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FELICITAS 


A ROMANCE 


BY 



FELIX DAHN 

/ 

b 


From the German by MARY J. SAFFORD 

K:: 26 1883 

op 


WILLIAM S. GOTTSBERGER, PUBLISHER 
II MURRAY STREET 
1883 


Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883 
By William S. Gottsberger 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington 




GOTTFRIED KELLER 



AND 

KONRAD 

FERDINAND MEYER 


OF ZURICH 


WITH A GERMAN GREETING 
FROM OCEAN TO CLIFF 


kOnigsberg, autumn, 1882 



PREFACE. 


Many years ago I was employed at Salzburg — in 
the archives, library, and museum of Roman antiqui- 
ties. 

My studies were specially devoted to the fifth cen- 
tury, the time when the Germans pressed their way into 
these provinces, and the Roman garrisons, with or with- 
out resistance, retired, leaving many Roman colonists 
behind : peasants, tradesmen, merchants, who would not 
give up their homes, their profitable business, or desert 
the beloved ground they had long tilled, even when it 
passed under the rule of the Barbarians; nor did the 
latter injure them in any way after the storm and 
battle of conquest were over and the division of the 
land accomplished. 

When the task for the day was completed, I wan- 
dered through the beautiful, familiar region of the Salz- 
burg valley, — the warm June evenings permitting long 
rambles extended to late hours. 

My thoughts and imagination were filled with 


II PREFACE. 

pictures of the life and varying destiny of these last 
Roman dwellers in the Alpine provinces. 

The rich abundance of inscriptions, stores of coins 
and vessels, Roman memorials of every kind, in and 
around Salzburg roused the imagination to eager ac- 
tivity; for this city with its towering castle, the “capi- 
tol” on the lofty cliff dominating river and valley, had 
been for centuries, under the proud name Claudium 
JuvAVUM, not only one of the main bulwarks of Roman 
power, but the scene of the most flourishing and bril- 
liant development of Roman civilization. 

Duumviri, decuriones, aediles of the markets and 
games, craftsmen in various branches of luxury, art- 
workmen and artists are proved by the inscriptions 
to have been judges, governors, residents, and beauti- 
fiers of the city. The researches that occupied my 
mind during the day were replaced by the play of 
imagination when I wandered out of the city gate in 
the evening. I then saw road and river, hill and vale 
peopled with scenes of Roman life, while farther away 
from the northwest, like the moving clouds that often 
rise from the Bavarian plains, marched the invading 
Germans. 

I most frequently strolled along the river bank in 
the direction of the great Roman highway which ran 
towards the Chiemsee, and crossing its outlet, the Alz, 
at Seebruck {Bedaium) and the Inn {Oenus) at Pfiinz 


PREFACE. 


Ill 


i^Pons Oeni) extended to Vindelicia and the brilliant capi- 
tal of that province, Augusta Viudelicorum^ Augsburg. 

Numerous coins, fragments of pottery, urns, tomb- 
stones, and household utensils of every description had 
been found here on both sides of the ancient Roman 
road in the lowlands, the greater part of which is now 
overgrown by trees, underbrush, and especially thick 
ivy, a region where the farm-houses of the colonists and 
also the fine villas of wealthier citizens had been scat- 
tered, filling and adorning the broad valley far outside 
the last wall of the fortified city. 

I often wandered along the remains of the Roman 
highway, which could still be distinctly traced, gazing 
at the setting sun and dreaming how the occupants of 
these villas probably felt when the proud legions no 
longer marched from here to the Roman city, but on 
the other hand the first small mounted bands of Ger- 
mans from conquered Vindelicia dashed forward, cau- 
tiously reconnoitering the ground, but soon came in 
larger numbers, grown bolder, or rather cherishing a 
well-founded confidence that they should find the 
country but feebly defended, and be able to settle in it 
as the masters of the unprotected Romans left behind. 

Absorbed in such reveries, and with a keen desire 
to pick up for myself some little memento of Roman 
rule on a soil so rich in memories, I plunged one 
evening still farther into the thicket on the right of 


IV 


PREFACE. 


the Roman road, following over ground covered with 
broken stones and potsherds, densely overgrown with 
moss and ivy, the slender thread of water trickling from 
a spring. 

But I frequently heard something beneath the 
mossy coverlet crack under my footsteps, and often 
picked up tiles and bits of clay. Were they Roman 
relics ? No certain clue could be obtained from their 
appearance. 

I determined to follow the rivulet farther than 
usual until I reached its source, which I supposed to be 
on the gentle slope of a moderately high hill; for I 
knew that the Romans liked to build their villas, as 
well as their military encampments, beside running 
water. 

The summer day had been very hot. Both feet 
and brain were weary, and my progress in the pathless 
direction I pursued along the course of the streamlet, 
often through dense underbrush, was both slow and 
toilsome, though aided by the alpenstock I always carried 
when climbing the hills in my rambles. I would wil- 
lingly have thrown myself down on the soft, inviting 
moss and gone to sleep, but I restrained the impulse, 
resolving this time to press my way onward and upward 
to the “ original source” of the spring. 

At the end of half an hour I gained the height 
called by the people the “ Pagan’s Push.” 


PREFACE. 


V 


During the last portion of the way the fragments of 
stone of every kind had been remarkably large and 
numerous, — among them were bits of reddish and grey 
marble, as they had lain there for countless centuries. 
And it really was as I expected, — close under the 
top of the hill the spring trickled out of the ground. 
It seemed to have been formerly inclosed in a stone 
basin, part of which was still visible ; carefully-polished 
light-grey marble surrounded it here and there, and 
countless tiles lay scattered about. My heart throbbed 
faster, not merely on account of the toilsome ascent, 
but, I confess, with hopeful anticipation — I was very 
young — that the Roman Mercury, or Wotanus the Ger- 
man god of wishes and discoveries, might on this spot 
fling into my hand the long-desired memento of the 
Romans of Juvavum. The name of the place, Pagan’s 
Push, undoubtedly came from the Roman occupation of 
the country — for the Roman road is here called the 
Pagan’s road — , besides, the spring, the traces of a mar- 
ble enclosure, the numerous tiles, were all encouraging. 
Just at that moment the sun before setting, streamed 
obliquely through the bushes and revealed on a tile 
lying before me — cement. I raised and examined the 
fragment; it was undoubtedly that Roman cement which, 
growing hard as stone during the passage of the cen- 
turies, is a distinctive mark of the buildings of eternal 
Rome. I turned the flat surface over. Joy ! the legend 


VI 


PREFACE. 


of the XXII XtgioTi^primigenia pia Jidelis ! was burned 
into it. 

And as, greatly delighted, I stooped to examine the 
next tile, a still brighter sunbeam fell on a piece of 
peculiar light-grey stone, which I now perceived was 
marble, and on the central part distinctly saw three 
Roman letters 


hie 

there the stone had cracked, but close beside it the 
broken edge of a piece of the same grey marble rose 
above the moss and ivy, — did the continuation of the 
inscription lie buried under the covering of turf? 

I pulled the stone, but it was too heavy to move, 
either because too much loaded with earth or on ac- 
count of its size. 

After vainly tugging, I perceived that I must remove 
the whole layer of moss and earth before the marble 
would reveal its secret. 

Had it one to tell ? Certainly ! I held the begin- . 
ningin my hands : “ AT/V,” here — what had happened or 
was certified here ? 

After cleansing the first fragment from earth and 
roots with my handkerchief, I held it against the pro- 
truding stone still concealed under the earth, — both 
fitted exactly. 


PREFACE. 


VII 


I now set to work — the task was neither short 
nor easy ; with hands, knife, and the point of the alpen- 
stock, I was obliged, to remove and tear away about two 
feet of turf, earth, moss, and — most tenacious obstacle — 
the countless tiny roots of the clinging ivy. Even in 
this cool place, though the sun was already setting, the 
labor heated me ; many a drop of perspiration fell from 
my brow on the old Roman stone, which_ proved to be 
a tolerably long slab. 

At last it was bared so far — after the first few 
minutes the undoubted presence of more letters sharp- 
ened my zeal — that I could seize the sides with both 
hands and, by many a little jerk, bring it to light en- 
tirely. I held the broken stone with the deciphered hie 
against it, and instantly saw the direction in which the 
reading was to be continued. 

I hastily scraped the earth, gravel, and moss out 
of the letters, for it was now rapidly growing darker and 
I wanted to interpret the long-buried secret at once. I 
succeeded, — with some effort, yet with perfect distinct- 
ness, I read the two lines inscribed one below the other: 

Hie habitat Felicit . . 

Nihil mali intret. 

Only the two last letters of the third word were mis- 
sing; the stone was broken off and the piece be- 
•longing to it could not be found, yet the end — as — 


VIII 


PREFACE. 


was a matter of course. The inscription, translated, 
meant : 

Here dwells Happiness 
Let no evil enter! 

«###«# 

The slab of grey marble had evidently formed the 
threshold of the garden or court -yard of the villa, and 
the motto was intended to hold all harm from the door. 

I vainly sought other traces, remnants of household 
utensils, and at last, happy and content, satisfied myself 
with the discovery of the pretty saying. 

Wiping my heated brow, I sat down on the soft 
moss by the spot where I had carried on my work of 
excavation, and with my back resting against an ancient 
oak that had grown out of the ruins of the Roman 
house, perhaps from the rich soil of the little garden, 
pondered over the words I had deciphered. 

A wonderful stillness reigned upon the hill, which 
was entirely shut off from the world by trees and bushes. 
The trickling of the tiny stream of water that issued 
from the ground beside me was only faintly audible, 
but occasionally grew louder when it flowed over a 
steeper slope. Formerly, when enclosed in the light- 
grey marble, it had doubtless had a louder voice. In 
the distance a yellow thrush, perched on the top of a 


PREFACE. 


IX 


tall beech -tree, sang its warbling notes, suggesting 
the deepest woodland seclusion, as the listener 
has scarcely ever heard the bird’s melody except in 
such a green solitude. Now and then bees, seeking 
the brighter clearing, buzzed out of the sandy thicket 
over the moss, — sleepy themselves and wooing slumber 
by their drowsy hum, 

I was wondering whose “happiness” once dwelt 
here. And was the wish expressed in the inscription 
fulfilled ? Was the motto powerful enough to keep 
away all harm ? The stone that bore it is shattered — a 
bad omen ! And of what nature was this happiness ? 

Or stay — in those days Felicitas was used as a 
woman's name ; did the words, perhaps with some 
graceful twofold meaning, intend to say : “ Here dwells 
Happiness, that is: my Felicitas; let nothing evil ap- 
proach her over our threshold.” 

But Felicitas — who was she ? And who was he 
whose happiness she had been ! And what became of 
them ? And this villa, what. . . . ? 

This was probably my last waking thought, for 
with the question I fell asleep. 

I slept a long time, for when the nightingale’s joy- 
ous song, echoing loudly close to my ears, waked me, 
darkness had gathered, and a star was shining brightly 
through the boughs of the oak. I started up, call- 
ing: 


X 


PREFACE. 


“Felicitas! Fulvius! — Liuthari! where are they?” 

“ Felicitas !” echo softly repeated from the hill-side. 
Silence and darkness reigned elsewhere. 

So it was a dream ! 

Well, I will detain this dream. Felicitas, I will 
hold thee. 

Thou shalt not escape me. 

Poesy alone can perpetuate thy memory. 

And, hastening home, I wrote down that very 
night the story I had dreamed among the ruins of the 
ancient Roman villa. 


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FELICITAS. 


CHAPTER I. 

It was a beautiful June evening. The sun, 
setting in golden radiance, cast its glittering rays 
from the west, from Vindelicia, upon the Hill of 
Mercury and the modest villa crowning it. 

Only a subdued murmur reached this spot 
from the highway, along which ever and anon a 
two-wheeled cart, drawn by Norican oxen, was 
moving homeward from the western gate of Juva- 
vum, the porta Vmdelicay as well as colonists and 
country-people, who had been selling vegetables, 
hens, and doves in the Forum of Hercules during 
the day just ended. 

So it was quiet and peaceful on the hill ; beyond 
the stone wall, which was lower than the height of a 
man, and which enclosed the garden, nothing was 
heard save the rippling of the little rivulet which, 

I 


2 


FELICITAS. 


after leaving its marble basin at its source, fed 
the fountain, and then wound in graceful curves 
through the carefully-kept garden, and finally near 
the entrance, which was surmounted by Hermes 
but destitute of door or grating, passed under a gap 
in. the wall and flowed down the hill in a stone 
channel. 

At the foot of this hill, towards the south-east, 
in the direction of the city, lay carefully-tilled 
vegetable gardens and orchards, luxuriant green 
meadows, and fields of spelt, a grain brought by 
the Romans to the land of the Barbarians. 

Behind the villa, on the ascending hill-side, 
towered and rustled a beautiful grove of beeches, 
from whose depths echoed the metallic notes of 
the yellow thrush. 

The scene was so beautiful, so peaceful ; only 
in the west and the south-east could a dark cloud 
be seen. 

From the open gateway a straight path, strewn 
with white sand, led through the spacious garden, 
and was bordered with lofty evergreen oaks and 
clumps of yew trees, the latter, according to a long 
prevailing fashion, clipped into all sorts of geo- 
metrical figures — a token of taste, or the lack of it, 


FELICITAS. 


3 


the Rococo age did not invent, but merely bor- 
rowed from the gardens of the emperors. 

Statues stood at regular distances along the 
way from the gate to the entrance of the dwelling : 
nymphs, a Flora, a Silvanus, a Mercury — poor 
specimens of work executed in plaster; fat Cris- 
pus manufactured them by the dozen in his work- 
shop on the square of Vulcanus at Juvavum and 
sold them cheap ; times were hard for men, and 
still worse for gods and demi-gods ; but these were 
a free gift. Crispus was brother to the father of 
the young master of the house. 

From the garden gate sounded a few hammer- 
strokes, echoed back from the stone wall of the 
enclosure ; they were light taps, for they were 
cautiously guided by an artist’s hand, apparently 
the last finishing touches of a master. 

The man who wielded the hammer now started 
up — he had been kneeling behind the gate, beside 
which, piled one above another, a dozen unhewn 
marble slabs announced the dwelling of a stone- 
cutter. Thrusting the little hammer into the belt 
that fastened the leather apron over the^blue tunic, 
he poured from a small flask a few dr3*p>s of oil on a 
woollen cloth and carefully rubbed the inscription 


4 


FELICITAS. 


Upon the marble with it until it was as smooth as 
a mirror, then turning his head a little on one side 
like a bird that wants to examine something closely, 
with an approving nod he read aloud the words on 
the slab : 

“Yes, yes! Here dwells happiness : hap- 

piness, oiir happiness — so long as my Felicitas 
lives here, happy herself and making others happy. 
May misfortune never cross this threshold ! may 
every demon of ill be banished by this motto 1 
The house has now received a beautiful finish in 
these words. But where is she ? She must see it 
and praise me. Felicitas,” he called, turning 
towards the house, “ come here !” 

Wiping the perspiration from his brow, he 
stood erect — a pliant, youthful figure of middle 
height, not unlike the Mercury in the garden, 
modelled by Crispus according to the ancient 
traditions of symmetry; dark-brown hair, cut 
short, curled closely, almost like a cap, over his 
uncovered round head; a pair of dark eyes, 
shaded by heavy brows, laughed merrily out into 
the world \ his bare feet and arms were beautifully 
formed but Sffowed little strength, it was only in 
the right arm that the muscles stood forth promi- 


FELICITAS. 


5 


nently ; the brown leather apron was white with 
scrapings from the marble. He shook off the dust 
and called again in a louder tone: Felicitas !” 

A white figure, framed like a picture between 
the two pilasters of the entrance, appeared on the 
threshold, pushing back the dark yellow curtain 
suspended from a bronze pole by movable rings. 
A very young girl — or was it a young wife ? Yes, 
this child, scarcely seventeen, must have already 
become a wife, for she was undoubtedly the 
mother of the infant she pressed to her bosom 
with her left arm; no one but a mother holds a 
child Avith such an expression in face and 
attitude. 

The young wife pressed two fingers of her 
right hand, with the palm turned outward, warn- 
ingly to her lips : “ Hush,” she said, “our child is 
asleep.” 

And now the slender figure, not yet wholly 
matured, floated down the four stone steps leading 
from the threshold to the garden, carefully lifting 
the child a little higher and holding it still more 
closely with her left arm, while her right hand 
raised her snowy robe to the dainty ankle; the fault- 
lessly beautiful oval head was slightly bent for- 


6 


FELICITAS. 


ward : it was a vision of perfect grace, even more 
youthful, more childlike than Raphael’s Madonnas, 
and not humble, yet at the same time mystically 
transfigured, like the mother of the Christ-child ; 
there was nothing complicated, nothing miraculous, 
naught save the noblest simplicity blended with 
royal grandeur in Felicitas’ unconscious inno- 
cence and dignity. The movements of this Hebe 
who had become a mother were as measured 
and graceful as a perfect musical harmony. 
A wife, yet still a maiden ; purely human, 
perfectly happy, absorbed and satisfied by her 
love for her young husband and the child at 
her breast ; at once touching and lovely, yet in- 
spiring reverence ; so, chaste in coloring was the 
perfect beauty of her form and face that every 
profane desire vanished in her presence as though 
she were a statue. 

She wore no ornaments ; her light-brown hair, 
gleaming with a golden tinge where the sun kissed 
it, was drawn back in natural waves from the beau- 
tiful temples, revealing the low forehead, and was 
fastened in a loose knot at the nape of the neck ; 
a milk-white robe of the finest wool, fastened on 
the left shoulder by an exquisitely-shaped but 


FELICITAS. 


7 


plain silver clasp, fell in flowing folds around her 
figure — revealing the neck, the upper part of the 
swelling bosom, and the still childish arms which 
seemed a little too long — and reached to the 
ankles, just touching the dainty scarlet leather 
sandals; — beneath the breast one end of the robe 
was drawn through a bronze girdle a hand’s- 
breadth wide. 

So she glided noiselessly as a wave down the 
steps and floated up to her husband. The narrow 
oval face possessed the marvellous, almost bluish, 
white tint peculiar to the daughters of Ionia, 
which no Southern noonday sun can brown ; the 
semicircular eyebrows, as regular as if marked by 
a pair of compasses, might have given the coun- 
tenance a lifeless, almost statuesque, expression, 
had not, under the long, long- curling lashes, the 
dark-brown antelope eyes shone with the most 
vivid animation as she fixed them on her beloved 
husband. 

The latter rushed towards her with elastic 
steps ; carefully and tenderly taking the sleeping 
child from her arm, he laid it under the shade of a 
rose-bush in the oval shallow straw lid of his 
work-basket ; one full-blown rose waving in the 


8 


FELICITAS. 


evening breeze tossed fragrant petals on the little 
one who smiled in sleep. 

The master of the house, throwing his arm 
around his young wife’s almost too slender waist, 
led her to the slab just completed for the threshold 
of the entrance, saying : 

“The motto I have kept secret — which I have 
worked so hard to finish — is now done; read it, 
and know, and feel” — here he tenderly kissed 
her lips — “ you — you yourself are the happi- 
ness: — You dwell here.” 

The young wife raised her hand to her eyes 
to shade them from the sunbeams now stream- 
ing almost horizontally through the open entrance, 
and, blushing deeply, read the words. A wave of 
blood mounted visibly in the delicate white cheeks, 
her bosom heaved, her heart throbbed eagerly : 
“Oh, Fulvius! Dear Fulvius! How you love 
me ! How happy we are !” And laying both 
hands and arms on his right shoulder, she rested 
her beautiful head on the other. 

He pressed her ardently to his breast. “Yes, 
our happiness is overflowing, cloudless — without 
measure — without end.” 

She hastily raised herself with a slight tremor, 


FELICITAS. 


9 


as if shivering, and gazed anxiously into his eyes. 
“ Oh, do not challenge the saints ! It is whispered 
that they are envious,” she continued, lowering 
her own voice to a whisper, and covering his 
mouth with her hand. 

But he pressed a loud kiss on the slender 
fingers, exclaiming: “I am only a man, yet I am 
not envious, why should the saints be ? I don’t 
believe it. Neither of the saints — nor of the 
Pagan gods, if they still live and have power.” 

“ Don’t speak of them ! Of course they live — 
but they are demons, and whoever names them 
summons them : so the presbyter in the basilica 
warns us.” 

“ I fear them not. They have protected many 
generations of our ancestors.” 

‘‘Yes, but we have deserted them! They no 
longer protect us. The saints alone are our 
defenders — against the Barbarians. Woe betide us, 
if they should come here, and trampling the flowers 
in our garden, carry away our child !” 

She knelt and kissed the little sleeper. 

The young father laughed: “Do you mean 
the Germans ? They don’t steal children ! They 
have more of them than they can feed. But it is 


10 


FELICITAS. 


true — they might some day raise their war-cry 
before the gates of Juvavum.” 

“ Yes, they will soon do that!” said an anxious 
voice, and stout Crispus, panting violently after 
his hot walk, entered the garden. 

“ Ave, Phidias in plaster !” cried Fulvius. 

“Welcome, uncle,” said Felicitas, holding out 
her hand to him. 

Crispus pushed off — till it hung by the leather 
band on his broad back — the wide-brimmed felt 
hat he usually wore low over his brow to protect 
from the sun his fat, good-natured face and snub 
nose, both flushed by many a potation of wine. 

“ May Hygeia never . desert you, my little 
daughter! nor the graces abandon you, their fourth 
sister ! Yes, the Germans ! A horseman arrived 
to-night with a secret message to the tribune ; but 
all we morning guests of the Bath of Amphitrite 
knew it a few hours afterwards. The horseman is a 
Wascone, and no Wascone shuts his mouth if you 
pour wine into it. A battle has been fought at 
the ford of Isara — our men have fled, the watch- 
tower at Vada is burned down. The Barbarians 
are in pursuit across the river.” 

“Pshaw!” cried Fulvius laughing, “that’s a 


FELICITAS. 


1 1 

long way off yet. Go, darling, prepare a cooling 
drink for uncle — you know his mixture, not too 
much water in it ! And even if they come, they 
won’t eat us. They are fierce giants in battle — 
children after the victory. I lived among them for 
months as their prisoner. I fear nothing from them.” 

“ Nothing for yourself — but for this lovely 
wife ?” 

Felicitas did not hear the question ; she had 
taken the child and gone into the house. 

Fulvius shook his curly head : ‘‘ No, they will ' 
not harm her, it is not their way. True, if I 
should fall — they probably would not let her re- 
main a widow long. But there are men — not clad 
in the bear- skins of the Barbarians — who would 
gladly tear her from her husband’s arms."” 

And he angrily clenched the handle of the 
hammer in his belt. 

“ She must have no suspicion of it, my pure- 
hearted Felicitas,” he added. 

“ Certainly not. But be on your guard. I 
met the tribune lately in the old argentarius’* 
treasure-chamber.” 

* The argentarius did almost the same business as the modern 
banker. — Smith's Dict'y of Greek and Roman Antiq. 


12 


FELICITAS. 


“ The usurer ! The leech !” 

“ Luckily I could pay my little debt — the 
slave announced me ; I was obliged to wait be- 
hind the curtain and heard a deep voice mention 
your name — and Felicitas. I entered; the tribune 
was standing before the money-changer. Both has- 
tilystopped talking when they recognized me. And 
just now, on my way here — whom did I meet on 
the high-road ? Leo, the tribune, and Zeno, the 
argentarius ! The latter was pointing with his 
'^aff towards your house, whose statues of the 
gods adorning its flat roof rose above the green 
foliage. I guessed their conversation — and their 
goal. Springing unseen from the road into the 
ditch, I hurried in advance of them along the 
shorter way, the path through the meadow, to 
warn you. Take heed — they will soon,/ be 
here !” 

“ Let the miser come ! The sum I owe him 
for Aquileian marble and the city tax lies ready. 
It was hardly earned and carefully saved. All my 
other creditors I have asked to wait, or rather 
promised them higher interest, and have kept all the 
money together for this scoundrel. But what does 
the tribune want of me? I owe him nothing, ex- 


FELICITAS. 


13 


cept a dagger thrust for every covetous look which 
he casts upon my innocent wife.” 

“ Beware ! His knife is stronger — it is called a 
sword. And behind him are the fierce Maurusian 
troopers, and the Isaurian mercenaries, whom we 
are obliged to pay with precious gold to defend us 
against the Barbarians.” 

“ But who will defend us against the defenders ? 
The emperor ? In distant Ravenna ! He is glad 
if the Germans don’t scale the Alps to reach 
him — it is long since he has troubled himself 
about this region, so many years under Roman 
rule.” 

“ Except to extort our last drop of blood in 
exorbitant taxes.” 

Pshaw, the government taxes ! They haven’t 
been raised for many a year. No imperial official 
ventures to cross the mountains. I still live on 
the emperor’s land, but what is the name of the 
man who is now emperor, and to whom this bit of 
ground, of which he never heard, belongs ? Every 
few years a new emperor is made known to us — 
but only by the coins.” 

“And they constantly grow worse.” 


14 


FELICITAS. 


“ Well, they can hardly become much worse, 
that's a comfort" 

But the taxes continually grow more unen- 
durable ; so I was told by a cousin from Medio- 
. lanum, where bailiffs and soldiers still enforce 
their collection." 

It’s all the same to us,” laughed the youth. 

Who knows how much I may owe on these few 
yokes of land ?" 

“ And grass, nay, the underbrush of the forest, 
is growing on the military roads." 

And the troops get no pay." 

“ But they pay themselves by pillaging the 
citizens they ought to defend." 

“And the walls of Juvavum are falling, the 
moats are dry, the works for flooding them are 
out of order, the rich people are moving away — 
only poor wretches who can’t get off, like our- 
selves, remain." 

“ I wonder the argentarius hasn’t crossed the 
Alps with his big money-bags long ago." 

“ I wouldn’t go if I could, uncle. And after 
all, why couldn’t I ? My art, my trade will be 
honored everywhere, so long as Romans live in 
stone houses and not in wooden stalls, like the 


FELICITAS. 


15 


Germans. But my whole soul has become at- 
tached to this soil. Many, many generations of 
my ancestors have lived here — ever since, they 
say, the colony was founded by the Emperor 
Hadrian. They cleared the primeval forest, 
drained the marsh, built the streets, made the 
fords, planned the house and garden, grafted 
choice fruit on the wild apple and pear trees — 
even the climate and the sky have grown milder. 
I know Italy, I have bought marble in Venice, but 
I would rather live here on the old heritage of my 
ancestors.” 

“ But suppose the Barbarians come ! What 
will you do then ?” 

“Stay. I have my own ideas about it. We 
insignificant people will fare better under the Bar- 
barians than. ...” 

“Don’t say: than under the emperor. You 
are a Roman !” 

The stout sculptor spoke very earnestly, but 
his nephew laughed. Worthy Crispus bore little 
resemblance to a Roman hero — his neighbors said 
he took himself for the model of his statues of 
Silenus. 

“ Not a full-blooded one ! My mother was a 


i6 


FELICITAS. 


Norican Celt. Induciomara ! That doesn’t sound 
much like a Roman citizen. Besides, we’re not 
under the emperor, but his hangmen’s assistants, 
the fiscal officers, and the murderous Mauritian 
and Isaurian mercenaries — if I must serve Bar- 
barians, I prefer the Germans.” 

“ But they are Pagans.” 

“ Part of them. So were we all a hundred and 
fifty years ago. My grandfather secretly offered 
sacrifices to Jupiter. And there are Christians 
among them too.” 

“ Arians ! heretics ! Worse than Pagans, our 
holy Church says.” 

“ A few decades ago our emperors were also 
heretics. And the Germans ask no one what he 
believes how sorely our ancestors suffered if they 
did not hold exactly the same faith as the reigning 
emperor !” 

“You would think yourself too indulgent if 
the Barbarians should come. Into how many 
cities have they thrown fire ?” 

“Yes, but stone doesn’t burn! The Romans 
speedily inserted new beams for the charred ones 
in the undestroyed walls ; for no German settles 
in a city. They pasture their flocks in the coun- 


FELICITAS. 


17 

try, sleeping with the peasant in his farm-house. 
True, they take from him one-third of his fields 
and meadows ; but the land prospers by it. It is 
now sadly depopulated ; everywhere there is a lack 
of free peasants on free ground. The soil is tilled 
by slaves for a master they have never seen, a 
master who is rioting in Neapolis or Byzantium. 
Or rather — they do not till it, only work just 
enough to save themselves from starving. The 
slave-driver takes away any surplus they may 
earn. It will be very different here with the 
plough and sickle when a hundred Germans, each 
with countless white-headed children, march into 
the Pagus. Never did I suppose there were so 
many children jumping and skipping about in the 
whole world as this one nation possesses. — And in 
a few years each one of the grown sons builds his 
own wooden farm-house in the cleared forest, the 
drained marsh. They swarm over the furrows like 
ants. Soon they throw aside their old wooden 
plowshares, and make iron ones like the colonists ! 
And in a few years the land bears so much more 
that it abundantly supports victors and van- 
quished.” 

“Yes, yes,” said Crispus nodding, “we have 


i8 


FELICITAS. 


witnessed that in the border-lands where they 
have settled. When too many sons have grown 
up, one- third of them migrate, — the selection 
being made by casting lots. Those whose destiny 
it is to migrate move forward in the direction of 
the first falcon or wolf that makes its appearance. 
But never backward, never towards the north;” 
sighed Crispus, “ so they continually approach us.” 

“ But they leave us in possession of our laws, our 
language, our God, and our basilicas, and ask less, 
far less interest than the master’s slave-driver, or 
the emperor’s tax-collector.” 

“ It’s lucky that Severus, the old armaturarum 
magister in Juvavum doesn’t hear you. He 
would. ...” 

“Yes, he thinks we are living in the old days, 
and that the ancient Romans still exist, — the 
Romans of the time of the German conqueror, 
the Emperor Probus, to whose race Severus 
belongs. But, by the saints, he is mistaken ! 
Why should I kindle with zeal for the emperor’s 
cause ? He certainly doesn’t trouble hiriiself 
about me; he sits far away in distant Ravenna 
inventing new taxes, and fresh punishments for 
those who are unable to pay them.” 


FELICITAS. 


19 


“ Old Severus has long been drilling volunteers 
to lead against the Barbarians, when they come 
this way. IVe been with them for a few 
days, and found it no easy matter to carry shield 
and spear in this heat. How is it that I have never 
seen you, who are so young and strong, on our 
^campus Martius,’ as he calls it.” 

Fulvius laughed. “It isn’t necessary, uncle. 
I practised the use of arms long enough while I 
was a prisoner among the Germans, and, if the 
city and my own hearth are to be protected, I 
shall not be missing — for honor’s sake ! yet not 
with the hope of accomplishing much. — Believe 
me, if the Germans really want our fields, that is^ 
if they must have them because they need them, 
Severus won’t stop them with his old-fashioned 
strategic arts and his new-fashioned ‘ legionaries 
of the Juvavian capitol,’ under the golden eagle 
he gave them. Neither will the tribune with his 
horsemen from Africa and his mercenaries from 
Isauria. But look, there’s our old slave Philemon 
beckoning, and I see the mixing-vessel glittering 
on the stool ; the table is set. Have some of our 
tart Rater wine : even Augustus did not disdain 
to drink it. It has been standing a year in the 


20 


FELICITAS. 


cellar since the mule brought it from Teriolis. 
Let us gaze at Felicitas and the child, and forget 
emperor and barbarians.” 


21 


CHAPTER II. 

Meantime the two men, whose coming had 
been announced by Crispus, were slowly strolling 
along the road towards the little villa, often paus- 
ing in their walk to engage in eager conver- 
sation. 

“ No, no,” said the argentarius in a warning 
tone, thoughtfully shaking his bald head, on which 
spite of the sun he wore no covering, “ this can’t 
be done so quickly, violently, and hastily as your 
impetuous passion desires, oh friend Tribune ! 
Let me do as I please ! We are on the right, the 
sure path.” 

“Your path is a crooked, tiresome circuit, a 
snail’s road !” cried the soldier impatiently, tossing 
back his proud helmeted head till the black crest 
fell on the rings of his coat of mail. “ What’s the 
use of so much ceremony ? True, you’re in no 
hurry to add the little estate to your boundless 
landed property. But I — I cannot sleep since 
the sight of that young wife kindled my love. 


22 


FELICITAS. 


My heart throbs almost to bursting. Some im- 
pulse drives me from my couch at night By the 
girdleless Astarte of Tripolis ! never yet have I 
failed to win a woman I wanted. I will have 
this slender Felicitas ! I must, or my veins will 
burst’' 

His flashing eyes fairly blazed. 

“You shall, only have patience.” 

“ No ! no patience. A sword-stroke will de- 
spatch the milksop of a husband ; I’ll lift the 
struggling fair one on my black steed Pluto, and 
ho ! up we’ll go to the capitol, though all the 
market-women in Juvavum shriek murder be- 
hind.” 

“ Murder and rape ! You know the punish- 
ment” 

“ Pshaw ! Will any accuser appear ? And the 
emperor? The emperor of Juvavum is — I myself 
Let us see who will scale the walls of my capitol.” 

“ The cross, my roaring Leo, the cross and 
the presbyter ! No, no, no outrageous open crimes. 
It is true that the judge and his lictors are weak 
in these provinces, now almost abandoned by 
Rome ; but the Church is all the stronger. If the 
lean grey-beard Johannes excommunicates you. 


FELICITAS. 


23^ 

you will be a lost man. No one in Juvavum will 
sell you a pound of meat or a jug of wine.” 

“Then I’ll get what I need with my lancers.” 

“But your lancers are Maurusians, — and they 
are pious Christians ; the presbyter baptized those 
who were not yet members of the church. See if 
they will follow, when the old man has cursed 
you ?”. 

“ I’ll kill him after he has uttered the curse !” 
cried the officer, taking a hasty step forward, his 
red cloak fluttering in the wind. “ Nay, he shall 
never curse me. I’ll kill him at once !” 

But the exchanger stopped again, adjusting 
his yellow tunic with his bony fingers. “ How 
useless ! Don’t you know that they are immortal ? 
If you kill one, the bishop sends another. And 
they are all alike, — far more alike than your sol- 
diers ! And I — I w^ouldn’t even look at you 
across the street, if you were under the ban of our 
holy Church.” 

The soldier also halted, laughing loudly : 
“You ! Zeno of Byzantium ! You believe as little 
in holy Church as my mother’s son, Leo ! And I 
think your soul-destroying usury is held in no 
more favor by the saints than my little love-affairs 


24 


FELICITAS. 


and thirst for blood. What have you to do with 
the Church ?” 

“ I’ll tell you, you short-sighted son of Mars. I 
fear her. She is the only power in this age — in 
these provinces. The emperor is far away, all his 
magistrates can be bought ; the Barbarians are 
like thunder-storms ; they suddenly appear with a 
roar and the people hide, then they go away 
again with a roar ; but the Church is every- 
where, wherever a single priest holds mass in 
a half-ruined chapel. And the priest is — not to 
be bought. The miserable wretch is not permitted 
to live like a man, so he needs nothing, — and all 
who hope to win heaven, that is all the fools, follow 
him. But woe betide the man who has the fools 
against him ; he is lost. No, no, we must not of- 
fend the presbyter.” 

I still need the sneak !” muttered Leo, as he 
ground his teeth and cast an angry glance at his 
companion, and impatiently pushed the short broad- 
sword suspended by a beautifully- wrought shoulder 
belt at his side. 

“ Therefore, to serve you,” continued the mer- 
chant, “ I have. ...” 

“For good pay,” observed Leo scornfully. 


FELICITAS. 


25 


“Only half of which — unfortunately — I have 
received.” 

“ The other half will be yours when I have the 
roe-eyed beauty in my apartments.” 

“ Therefore have I taken all this trouble, woven 
all these meshes and collected them in my hand ; — 
one jerk and the net will close over the stone-cut- 
ter’s head ; he and the lovely doll will writhe help- 
less, defenceless within it, and, best of all, outside 
the protection of the law. Emperor and Church will 
idly look on while you grasp the bird and I seize the 
land. Not that the latter is valuable, but it will 
complete my fields here. I can then more 
easily sell the whole to some great patrician in 
Italy.” 

“ I too don’t intend to keep the fragile creature 
long, — only through the autumn, and winter. 
When the slave-dealers come again from An- 
tiochia in summer. I’ll sell her for a high price. 
That half-bluish white of the eye is greatly 
prized. Where did she get it ?” 

“ From Hellas or Ionia. Her parents were the 
slaves of a Greek dealer in purple robes who died 
here on his way back from Pannonia. They said 
the old man had freed them before his death, and 


26 


FELICITAS. 


set up a little business in salt. When they too died, 
their child married a neighbor’s son, the stone- 
cutter who had grown up with her. I’m anxious 
to learn whether they kept their manumission 
papers. If not, — good-bye, Felicitas ! We have 
nearly reached our goal, — :the foot-path here leads 
downward from the main road to the Hill of Mer- 
cury. Moderate your impetuosity and the look 
of greed in your eyes, I beseech you, or you will 
spoil all.” 

“ I was neither born nor trained to wait.” 

With these words the tribune reached the open 
entrance of the garden. 

Zeno slowly followed ; the full radiance of the 
sunshine fell upon the threshold stone with its 
freshly-cut inscription. 

''Hie habitat Felicitas read the tribune. 
“ For how long ?” he asked laughing. 

"Nihil mail intret !" added the merchant. 
“ It’s lucky that wishes are not bolts.” 

“ Or we shouldn’t enter !” replied the other, 
scornfully treading with hasty step upon the 
dainty letters which had been polished with fresh 
oil to mirror-like smoothness. Leo’s foot slipped, 


FELICITAS. 


27 


he staggered, tried to recover himself, and fell ut- 
tering a cry of pain, his helmet and armor clanking 
loudly upon the stone slab. 


28 


CHAPTER III. 

The angry man instantly tried to rise, 
even before his companion could hold out a hand 
to aid him, and with a fierce oath sank back upon 
the ground, violently resisting the other’s attempt 
to lift him. 

Let me lie, my foot is broken "or my ankle is 
sprained. No, it’s the knee ! but I am not sure. 
I only know I can’t stand. I must be carried." 

“ I’ll call the people at the house. There 
comes the stone-cutter.” 

“ I’ll kill him if he touches me. I want no 
help from him. I saw some of my men throwing 
spears on the drill-ground at the left-hand side of 
the high-road. Call them ! They must take me 
away.” 

While the usurer went to bring the mercen- 
aries from the neighboring drill-ground, the pros- 
trate man, turning away from the stone-cutter 
'\^io had hurried up, refused to make him any 
answer. Silently, concealing his suffering, he al- 


FEIJCITAS. 


29 


lowed the strong Moors to bear him to the city, 
where a litter was soon procured to carry him to 
the capitol. 

Meantime Fulvius had stopped Zeno at the 
entrance. “ Not across the threshold, most 
worthy man !” he said, pushing back the intruder. 
“I am superstitious! You have the evil eye I As 
soon as I saw you and the tribune, I seized the 
money, which lies ready for you in this bag, and 
hurried to meet you, — here, count it I Exactly 
reckoned : fifty solidi, and, with interest at thirty 
per cent, fifteen solidi more I And here — for no 
business should be done with you without a re- 
ceipt — here I have written the receipt on this little 
wax-tablet. Take the stylus, put your name at 
the bottom, and go your way — never to re- 
turn.” 

But Zeno's lean hand angrily pushed aside 
the silver coins, some of which fell rattling on 
the stone slab and rolled about in every direc- 
tion. 

“ We shall not part company so quickly, hos- 
pitable householder and grateful debtor.” 

“ Grateful ! Thirty per cent, shows gratitude 
enough, to my way of thinking. And people are 


30 


FELICITAS. 


not hospitable to harpies and lemures. Take what 
belongs to you and go !” 

“ When I shall have taken what belongs to me 
here/’ the Byzantine answered furiously — “ j/ou, 
not I, will leave this house, this whole estate.” 

“ What do you mean by that ?” 

I mean that the point in question does not 
merely concern the paltry fifty solidi with interest 
You are my debtor for more than twenty times 
the amount; this house, this whole estate is mine; 
it is extremely probable that at this moment every 
bone in your body is also mine ; mine too is that 
slave’s daughter, listening anxiously behind the 
curtains, and the child at her breast, — ewe and 
lambkin are both my own.” 

The words were at first hissed maliciously in a 
low tone, then, as Zeno’s wrath rose, uttered 
louder and more threateningly till Fulvius glanced 
back in alarm to see if his young wife had heard 
anything of this evil. 

But Felicitas had already vanished behind the 
curtains, satisfied that the fierce officer whom she 
feared, she knew not why, was no longer there. 
She knew that the money was ready for the usurer, 
so she took a smiling leave of her guest, who had 


FELICITAS. 


31 


emptied his beaker and now went towards the 
entrance. No cloud shadowed her white brow 
as she seated herself and, bending her girlish 
face, with its wondrously sweet smile, over the 
child who had just waked, drew aside the folds of 
her robe — blushing as she did so — and guided 
the baby’s lips to her swelling breast. 

Meantime her anxious and wrathful husband 
had elbowed the reluctant usurer one pace farther 
back from the entrance ; the muscles of his bare 
arms grew tense, his fists clenched ; menacing but 
silent, he stood before the man who had spoken 
such terrible words. 

Crispus now approached and seized his young 
nephew’s right wrist, just as the latter slowly 
raised his arm to strike. 

“ What does this mean?” cried the stout uncle 
anxiously. 

Fulvius made no reply, but Zeno answered : 
‘‘ It means that I have bought this estate from 
the imperial exchequer, and with it all the old 
government claims for taxes. According to 
the books of rates, this lessee and his father have 
been for decades in arrears of rent, which the em- 
peror has meantime increased seven-fold, that is. 


32 


FELICITAS. 


with the fines they amount to over seven thou- 
sand solidi” 

Crispus calculated in a moment that, even if 
he resigned his whole property to save his nephew, 
he could not scrape together one-seventh of this 
sum. 

“It means,” continued Zeno, “that since the 
debtor is doubtless unable to pay, I claim him as 
my bondman and shall have the magistrate put 
me in possession of the property to-morrow.” 

“Oh, Felicitas !” groaned Fulvius. 

“Calm yourself, — I will take the mother and 
child to my house until the law-suit is decided,” 
said the good-natured uncle consolingly. 

“ Law-suit !” laughed Zeno. “ A law-suit that 
begins with a warrant of execution is speedily de- 
cided. My claim is proved beyond question by 
the imperial tax-lists, — they furnish ample evi- 
dence. And that young creature. ...” 

“ Do you want to claim the wife for her hus- 
band’s debt ? That is not permitted by Roman 
law,” cried Crispus. 

“ Stick to your plaster caricatures and don’t 
try to teach me about the law and its ways ! The 
young wife is the child of slaves, the property of 


FELICITAS. 


33 


her parents’ master. This master died without a 
will, leaving no heirs. His estate, as heirless 
property, fell to the exchequer, — the government 
owned the parents and now owns the child.” 

“ Old Crates, before his death, freed parents 
and child.” 

' “ Where is the letter of manumission ?” 

Both men were silent, and the usurer trium- 
phantly continued : 

” You are mute ? Then it is as I supposed, — 
the papyrus was burned in the conflagration of her 
parents’ house, during the colonists’ insurrection 
against the tax-lessees. The slave birth is certain, — 
the manumission must be proved ; so hence with 
the slave brats !” 

Overpowered by rage and fear, the young 
husband struck the malicious wretch a blow on the 
breast with his clenched fists, so that he staggered 
back : “ Have you bought my wife, too, in ad- 

vance from the government, as you purchased me 
and my house, you old sinner ?” 

“ No,” sneered the enraged usurer; “ the beau- 
tiful Greek will belong to a younger, handsomer 
man, better suited to her ; a lion will soon drag 


3 


34 


FELICITAS, 


her into his den. You know how a lion sues for 
love.” 

“ The tribune !” shrieked Fulvius. “ Til 
strangle him first with these fists. And you, 
wretch, take. ...” 

But Crispus threw both arms around him, 
holding him fast. 

The argentarius thus gained time to make his 
escape ; he hastily ascended the path leading to 
the military road, but, when he reached the top, 
turned, and, looking back through the green 
bushes at the villa, raised his fist threateningly 
and shouted to the two men : 

“Woe betide the vanquished !” 


35 


CHAPTER IV. 

Crispus was turning back to the house. 

^‘What are you going to do ?” said Fulvius. 

“ Ask Felicitas if she has no copy, no wit- 
nesses of the manumission,” — but the young 
husband checked him. 

“ No, no ! She must have no suspicion of it ! 
The poor, delicate, helpless, happy child ! The 
horrible plot Avould crush her !” 

“ How will you prevent her learning it if it 
is carried into execution, perhaps to-morrow ? 
For I don’t doubt that all the usurer says about 
the arrears of taxes and his purchase of the estate 
is perfectly true. That isn’t the worst thing that 
could happen ! You can fly, like so many thou- 
sands of those who are in debt for taxes, to the 
mountains, the forests, the Barbarians, for aught I 
care. Let him have the pile of stones here !” 

“ My parents’ house ! The rooms where we 
have been so happy !” 

“You can be happy elsewhere, when you are 
3 * 


36 


FELICITAS. 


reunited. But Felicitas has her child, — she cannot 
share your flight ; she must stay, can stay with me. 
And I hope to accomplish this ; for I am sure of 
the manumission, the old people did not deceive 
her. So we only need the proof! The proof I” 
“The document of manumission is burned, 
that’s certain. It was consumed with the old peo- 
ple’s few trinkets and little savings. They 
have often told us about it. They had put 
all their most valuable property in a small 
cedar box, hidden under the cushions of the 
couch in their chamber. When, during the night 
of the insurrection, the desperate tax -debtors 
and the peasantry, the clownish beasts of bur- 
den of the great land-owners, rebelled, the old 
people, greatly terrified, hurried into the street 
with their child to learn the cause of the frightful 
uproar, and ran on to the corner of the square of 
Vulcanus. Instantly another band of soldiers and 
peasants, fighting together, rushed into the street 
behind them, preventing their return. The wooden 
store-houses of the small hucksters living there 
burst into flames. When, at the end of two days, 
they succeeded in getting back to their house, it 
was almost entirely consumed ; under the half- 


FELICITAS. 


37 


charred cushions of the couch they found, still 
red-hot, a few melted gold coins and the iron 
clasps of the cedar casket, — of the wood and con- 
tents nothing was left save ashes.” 

“Was there no copy?” 

“ Certainly not in her parents’ house. We 
searched it thoroughly before we sold it after the 
old people’s death.” 

“ Among the legal documents in the Curia?” 

“ The release from slavery was given by a deed 
of manumission, not by will. Only the will would 
have been deposited there. But Crates was sur- 
prised by death before executing the last testa- 
ment he had in view.” 

“ Witnesses ?” 

“ There were none. I have already told you 
the liberation was by a deed of manumission.” 

“So there is a total lack of proof! It is ter- 
rible.” 

“Enough to drive one to despair.” 

“ But what carelessness too I To live years 
without. ...” 

“Years? I have not yet called her mine a 
single twelvemonth. Before that it was her 
parents’ charge. But what could be done by the 


38 


FELICITAS. . 


two good old people, both strangers here ? They 
could not call their dead master back to life to re- 
peat his act of emancipation.” 

“ Did not others read the document ?” 

“ Possibly ! But they could only prove tliat 
they had read it, not that it was genuine.” 

“ I see no way of escape — save flight, speedy 
flight.” 

“ Speedy flight is impossible with the child and 
the young mother, who has not yet wholly re- 
gained her strength. And to fly — is not my 
nature. I would rather resist by force.” 

“You and I and lame Philemon oppose by 
force the hired lances of the tribune? For he is 
at the bottom of the plot.” 

“ I believe so too. I saw his burning eyes rest 
on her, — gaze at her neck, her — Pll throttle him.” 

“ You will be a dead man, — ere you have raised 
your hand against him.” 

“ Dark hopeless night surrounds us. Ah, 
where shall we find counsel, one ray of promise, of 
light ?” 

“ In the church,” said a sweet voice, gently 
but firmly, and Felicitas threw her arm around 
her husband’s neck. 


FELICITAS. 


39 


“You !“ 

“ You here !” 

“ Yes. As you did not come back, I sought 
you, — that has ever been the way with us. Our 
son is asleep, I have laid him in my bed. But I 
found you both so absorbed in conversation, that 
you did not even hear my steps on the soft sand 
of the garden path.” 

“ What did you hear ?“ cried Fulvius full of 
terror. 

But his young wife’s bright, radiant face, 
smooth brow, and happy smile instantly soothed 
his fearful doubt. 

“ I only heard that you were seeking light in 
darkness. So, as usual, the word ‘ Church,’ the 
name ‘Johannes’ instantly occurred to my mind.’’ 

Fulvius was already soothed, almost joyous, 
merely because she had yet heard nothing of the 
impending misfortune ! He passed his hand ten- 
derly over her beautiful head, saying: “But you 
are not usually one of the praying tribe, whose 
piety — or hypocrisy — peers forth from the shabby 
knee- patches on their robes, worn out by kneel- 
ing on the altar-steps.” 

“ Oh ! no, unfortunately I am not devout 


40 


FELICITAS. 


enough. But it would do no good, even if I went 
oftener to the confessional. When I have finished, 
Johannes always smiles, saying: ‘ You«have only 
one sin, and that is called — Fulvius.’ But when 
I hear of darkness and light, I cannot help think- 
ing of the church and Johannes. It is a recol- 
lection dating from the earliest days of my 
childhood,” she added slowly and thoughtfully. 

“ What recollection ?” asked Crispus, whose 
attention was attracted. 

“ I had been obliged, on account of some dis- 
ease of the eyes, to wear a bandage and sit in the 
dark a long, long time ; I don’t know how long, — 
I was scarcely six years old. Then I heard the 
voice of our master. Crates, who, being familiar 
with the healing art, had treated me himself 
‘Take her to the basilica with you this evening,’ 
he said ; ‘ it will do her eyes no harm. And she 
must be present, the law requires it’ ” 

“ What do you say ? Present at what ?” asked 
the two men in breathless suspense. 

“I don’t know. You forget — I was a child. 
But I still clearly remember this : in the evening 
my father and mother, each holding one of my 
hands, took me between them — the master was 


FELICITAS. 


41 


with us — and led me with bandaged eyes — for 
, Crates thought the cold evening wind of the late 
autumn might harm me — to the neighboring 
basilica. Here the bandage was removed and — 

“Well, and — ” * 

“ What did you see ? What happened ?” 

“ For the first time in months, light, brilliant 
but soft light, entered my eyes. Before the altar, 
illumined with numerous wax - candles, stood 
Johannes, clad in gleaming white robes; our 
master pushed us all three to the lowest step of 
the altar and then repeated a number of words I 
did n'ot understand ; the priest blessed us ; my 
parents wept — but I saw it was from emotion, not 
sorrow — and kissed Crates’ knees ; the bandage 
was replaced over my eyes and I went out from 
the light of the church back into darkness. Since 
then light and church and Johannes have been 
one and the same thing to me. Ask Johannes, if 
you want counsel.” 

Felicitas could not exactly understand what 
followed. 

Her husband fervently kissed her brow and 
eyes, her uncle almost crushed her hand in his 
clasp. 


42 


FELICITAS. 


“Go ! go back to the house !” cried Fulvius at 
last. “ We must go to the church at once ; you 
are right, — as you always are. You — you have 
shown us the best advice, the means of deliver- 
ance.” 

And, with one last kiss, he led her hastily 
back into the garden. 

“There’s no doubt of it,” cried Crispus when 
Fulvius re-appeared, “they were not only freed 
by a manumission paper, but, for greater security, 
were again emancipated in the church, before the 
priest, according to every form of the law. And 
the unsuspicious child revealed it to us in the 
moment of our greatest need.” 

“ And the priest — ” 

“ Was Johannes himself!” 

“ He is still alive, the saints be thanked 1 He 
can prove it.” 

“And he shall — before this very night! He 
shall attest it before witnesses, before the Curiae.’-’ 

“ To the church !” 

“ To Johannes !” 

And both men hurried as fast as their feet 
could carry them along the military road leading 
to the city, to the Porta Vindelica. 


FELICITAS. 


43 


Meantime Felicitas slowly returned to the 
house, pausing now and again to glance back at 
her beloved husband till his figure gradually faded 
out of sight 

“ What can be the matter with them ?” she 
said softly, shaking her beautiful head. “ Well, they 
are so good ; — surely the saints will keep them. 
The sun has now wholly set in the west towards 
Vindelicia, but the birds are still sweetly trilling 
their evening songs from the woods on the hill- 
side. How peaceful, how quiet it is ! I will go 
back to my baby’s bedside, I shall wait most 
calmly there; Fulvius will return before night. 
For he loves us. Yes, he loves us dearly, my 
little son.” 

With these words she entered the house. 


44 


CHAPTER V. 

But Fulvius was not to return that night. 

When he and Crispus had passed through the 
Porta Vindelica and turned into the Via Augus- 
tana, where stood the basilica of Saint Peter and 
the priest’s little house, built close beside it, they 
saw Zeno knocking at the door of a stately dwell- 
ing at the other end of the street 

It was the judge’s residence. 

“ He is in a hurry,” said Crispus. “ It’s lucky 
that we are on the spot too.” 

And he lifted the cross- shaped knocker on the 
narrow door of the priest’s house. 

“ Zeno will probably carry his point in every- 
thing with the judge, who is his brother-in-law,” 
said Fulvius anxiously. 

“ And deeply in debt to the usurer. That 
will make them adhesive, like sticky mire.” 

Then the door was opened and an ostiarius led 
the two men through a long narrow passage, dimly 
lighted by a small oil lamp placed in a niche of 


FELICITAS. 


45 


the wall, to the priest’s room, and pushing the cur- 
tain back ushered both visitors in. 

The dusky apartment was almost destitute of 
furniture ; writing materials stood on the lid of a 
large chest which served for a table ; a lamb, a 
fish, and a dove were rudely outlined on the walls 
with red paint. 

Johannes, although engaged in conversation 
with two priests, instantly turned towards them. 
His thin figure, held erect by a strong, pliant 
will, was still unbent by his seventy years ; his 
only garment was a grey robe fastened around 
the loins by a rope ; his head was surrounded by 
a narrow silvery circle of white hair that gleamed 
like a saint’s halo. A long white beard fell low 
on his breast. 

“ Have patience a moment, dear friends,” he 
said, motioning to the new-comers. “ These 
brothers have urgent business, — you see they 
wear travelling hats and carry staves. But they 
have already received their instructions. You, 
Timotheus, will return to your post this very night; 
you did well in warning me, but only the hireling 
deserts his flock ; the good shepherd remains 
with it.” 


46 


FELICITAS. 


“ I will go/’ said the man addressed, a young 
sub-deacon, blushing with shame. “ I did not 
merely desire to fly from the Barbarians ; I only 
wished. ...” 

“ To warn me ; certainly. And perhaps — the 
Evil One inspired the cowardly thought — to try 
whether Johannes would not keep you here, 
within the safe walls of this fortress. But I tell 
you : Except the Lord keep the house, the watch- 
man waketh but in vain. And if the troubles of 
war come upon the poor people outside, your 
consolation will be indispensable. Go, my son, 
in God’s name, back to your cella in Isunisca.” 

“ Are the Barbarians already so near ? At 
Isunisca !” exclaimed the startled Crispus. 

“ Probably ; at least Brother Timotheus, three 
nights ago, heard horsemen mounted on unshod 
steeds dash past his cella. They were no Romans.” 

“ They were the night horsemen, the gods of 
the Pagans, led by Wotanus, the chief demon, 
called by our ancestors Teutates, by the Romans 
Mercury,” said Bojorix, the deacon, an elderly 
man, trembling with horror. 

“ Hardly, this time,” replied Johannes with a 
gentle smile, “ since one of these nocturnal ghosts. 


FELICITAS. 


47 


who had a long grey beard and was clad in a flut- 
tering wolf-skin, dashed alone the next day upon 
a party of armed merchants, snatched the fullest 
wine-skin from the cart, flung it on his steed, and 
galloped away. Ghosts don’t drink Rater. These 
tidings, which came from the West, trouble me 
far less than the fact that there is no news from 
the East, from Ovilava and Lentia. A few peas- 
ants came from thence through the Porta Latina 
to market ; but I did not know them, I suspect 
them. Well, we are under our Lord’s protection 
at the rising as well as the setting of His sun ! 
But you, Stephanus. ...” 

The man did not hear. 

The presbyter pulled his robe, saying in a tone 
of gentle reproach : “ Why, Stephanus, Stephanus ! 
do you still answer only to your Barbarian name 
Bojorix ? You, Stephanus, tell the children of the 
widow ad Fontes that I will pawn the last silver 
goblet but one in the basilica, and with the pro- 
ceeds satisfy the argentarius and save her from the 
bondage enforced by the debt. To-morrow, or 
the day after, I will take the money to her.” 

“ Oh, sir, she is very anxious ! Why not to- 
night ?” 


48 ■ ' FELICITAS. 

‘‘ To-night I must put fresh bandages on the 
sores of the poor leprous Jew, whom the doctors 
will no longer touch, and watch beside him. Go 
now, my brothers, and may the angel of the Lord, 
that guided Tobias, hover over your staves. Fear 
not, though it is night ; you will walk in the 
light.’’ 

The two men bowed respectfully and with- 
drew ; Johannes refused the kiss they wished to 
press upon his hand. 

“ Now it is your turn, my friends,” said the 
old man, “ what can I do for you ?” 

Fulvius and Crispus, each adding to the other’s 
tale, hastily and excitedly told their errand. 

The priest listened gravely and attentively. 

“ It is as my dear child says,” he answered. 
“ Crates, their master, freed both parents and 
child — before me, in this basilica.” 

“ Oh, then we are safe from the worst !” cried 
Fulvius joyously. 

“So long as I live, — but I am an old man; 
the Lord may call me before the night is over. 
Haste is necessary against this violent profligate. 
You knew Galla, a girl of eighteen, the daughter 
of the colonist Gaudentius who lives near the 


FELICITAS. 


49 


custom-house. Only a few days ago the wretch 
saw her — at noon. Before night she had disap- 
peared ; the next morning she lay crushed and 
lifeless at the foot of the cliff crowned by the 
Capitol. It was said she had met with an accident 
while gathering berries, but a fisherman who was 
drawing his nets at dawn told me in confidence 
that he saw her throw herself, head foremost, from 
the tower window.” 

“ The tribune lodges there !” shrieked Cris- 
pus. 

Fulvius silently grasped the hammer in his 
tunic. 

“ Come ! The judge, the Curiae, will take 
no deposition so late. They are feasting and 
carousing. We will instantly seek the elders of 
the parish, — before them I will swear to my 
knowledge of the emancipation. Besides, I’ll 
consult with them this very evening as to whether 
we cannot protect you against this usurer in the 
possession of your estate, my worthy stone-cutter, 
as well as defend your wife’s innocence. Follow 
me.” 

All three hurried into the street. 

It was still tolerably light out of doors ; the 


4 


50 


FELICITAS. 


twilight of the long June day was just begin- 
ning. 

As they reached the judge’s house, the door 
opened and the master of the dwelling came out 
with the argentarius. 

“ I think ril send out the first thing to-mor- 
row morning,” said the former. “Your right is 
beyond doubt, there is probable danger of the 
debtor’s flight, so I can issue the warrant of ar- 
rest, — but there he stands himself” 

Zeno also now turned towards the street and 
saw the three men approaching; it disturbed him to 
see his victim in the company of the priest, whom 
the citizens loved and he feared and hated. The 
usurer greeted the honored man timidly ; there 
were other people in the street, and it would have 
injured him if he had failed to salute a person so 
universally revered, but he tried to push hastily 
by him. 

“ Stay, Zeno of Byzantium !” called the priest 
loudly, — so much strength of voice would not 
have been expected from the old man. “ I have 
to warn you, you and that profligate tribune. I 
know too much of your sins, — the measure is full. 


FELICITAS. 


51 


Unless you repent, I can no longer tolerate you in 
the communion of the saints.” 

The merchant turned pale. 

“ You are a usurer; and he — is a murderer 
of soul and body. I am aware of your new plan. 
You will not accomplish it. Know — though the 
manumission paper is burned, the pure young 
wife will not fall into your clutches. She is free — 
was freed before me, in the church.” 

“You can easily say that !” replied Zeno with 
a watchful glance. 

“ I am going to swear it before witnesses.” 

“ So no one knows it yet except the old man,” 
thought the other. 

“ But you, who take thirty per cent, of a hun- 
dred and more, I shall call to account before the 
parish. And not for that alone. Remember your 
poor Syrian slave. I shall complain in her behalf 
to the civil courts.” 

The Byzantine trembled. 

“ And if you and that sensual, violent com- 
mander cannot clear yourselves of the guilt of 
Galla’s blood, I will expel you from the parish 
next Sunday.” 

Before Zeno could reply, arms rattled, heavy 


/ 


4 


52 


FELICITAS. 


footsteps were heard, and a troop of the tribune’s 
Isaurians turned the corner. The centurion hur- 
ried up to the merchant: 

“ I am looking for you. At your house they 
directed me here to the judge’s. Read ! — From 
the tribune.” 

Zeno took the little wax -tablet. “Open?” 

he asked suspiciously. 

“ Sealed to us,” replied the soldier laughing. 
“We can’t read; we only fight.” 

Zeno read : 

“ It was only the knee. My Greek slave has 
tended me. I shall be able to mount my horse 
to-morrow. Thrice as much if you get Felicitas 
to-morrow.” 

The Greek exchanged a hasty glance with the 
judge — : then smoothing the writing from the wax 
with the flat end of the stylus, he traced with 
the point the words : 

“ The priest alone knows that she was freed. 
He will excommunicate you on Sunday. Dead 
dogs don’t bark.” 

“ Take this to your tribune,” he said beckon- 
ing to the centurion. 

“ I cannot, — I’m ordered to guard the Porta 


FELICITAS. 


53 


Vindelica. But here, Arsaces, go back to the 
capitol.” He gave the tablet to one of the mer- 
cenaries, who bowed and vanished. 

“ The Porta Vindelica ? Wait a little !” 

Zeno whispered a word to the judge. 

Halt, Centurion !” called the latter. “ My 
carcerarii are not at hand — : in case of necessity I 
am permitted, by the Emperor Diocletian’s re- 
script, to command you soldiers. Seize this deb- 
tor of the emperor, who is suspected of intending 
flight, and take him to the tower where those ow- 
ing taxes are confined ; it is close by the Porta 
Vindelica.” 

Fulvius was instantly surrounded ; the centur- 
ion laid his hand on his shoulder, four men seized 
his arms. 

“ Oh, Felicitas !” sighed the defenceless hus- 
band. 

“ ril save her ! I’ll rush out there !” cried 
Crispus, hurrying off. 

He was just turning the corner, but could go 
no farther ; the hoof-beats of a horse dashing for- 
ward at furious speed suddenly rang out on the 
air, while behind rose a roar of voices ; then a 


54 


FELICITAS. 


throng of people appeared — soldiers, citizens, 
women, children, all huddled together. 

“ One of our Moorish troopers !” cried the 
centurion, seizing the steed by the bridle : “ Jar- 
bas ! Comrade ! What is it ?” 

The man, who was dripping with water, 
straightened himself in his saddle ; he had lost 
helmet and shield ; his right hand grasped a 
broken spear ; blood was streaming down his bare 
left arm. 

“ Tell the tribune !” he shouted hoarsely, as if 
exerting his last remnant of strength. “ I can do 
no more — the arrow in my neck ! — they are 
there ! — close the gates ! — The Germans are be- 
fore the city !” 

And, dropping the reins, he fell backward from 
the horse — dead. 


55 


CHAPTER VI. 

Was it really so ? Were the Germans ac- 
tually before the gates of Jiivavum ? 

The citizens, with m^ny a troubled shake of 
the head, racked their brains over this question. 

Nothing more could be learned at present of 
all that had happened or was now happening out- 
side ; the mouth which might have told the tale 
was silenced forever. 

The gates were kept carefully closed. True, 
Leo the tribune, up at the capitol, had instantly 
sprung from his couch at the first tidings : “ To 

horse,” he shouted, “ out beyond the walls !” But, 
with a sudden cry of pain, he sank back again 
into the arms of his slave ; and he would not trust 
to another the command of so dangerous a ven- 
ture as a nocturnal reconnoitering sally outside 
the gates against a foe undoubtedly very superior 
in numbers. 

Severus, the leader of the volunteers in the 
city, had only foot-soldiers at his disposal, and 


56 


FELICITAS. 


with these alone neither would nor could march 
against the Barbarians in the darkness. He con- 
tented himself with garrisoning the gates and 
towers. 

The sentinels, greatly strengthened in num- 
bers, watched and listened on the walls in the soft 
night air for any sight or sound ; but nothing, 
nothing at all unusual was discovered, — no light 
near at hand, no camp-fires in the distance. 
The Germans could not fail to have both, and 
were not accustomed, either from fear or prudence, 
to do without them, as their wives and children, 
men and maid-servants, flocks, wagons, and carts, 
always accompanied them on the march. 

No sound was heard, — neither the rattle of 
arms nor the hoof strokes of horses ; naught save 
the low, monotonous rippling of the river, flowing 
swiftly through the valley from south to north, 
reached the sentries’ ears. True, one of the citi- 
zens once fancied he distinguished a noise like the 
neigh of a horse, and the sudden dashing of the 
waves as if a heavy body had leaped or fallen into 
the river, but felt sure he was mistaken, since 
everything remained quiet afterwards. 

The nightingales sang in the coppices around 


FELICITAS. 


57 


the villas ; the uninterrupted melody showed, as 
was rightly supposed, that neither carts, horses, 
nor warriors were approaching from that direc- 
tion. 

So, in search of information, they again 
turned to the soldier’s body, and his steed, which 
still trembled in every limb. 

It was seen that the horse had swum the river, 
for both man and beast were dripping with water; — 
why had not the fugitive used the bridge below 
the city ? Because he had been unable to do so 
on account of its being garrisoned ? Because he 
did not wish to do so, but had sought to bring his 
message by the most direct way ? 

He had no wounds except the fatal one made 
by the arrow in his neck, from which the blood 
had trickled down his shoulder and bare, shield- 
less left arm. They drew out the dart, — it was 
like those used by the Germans ; the triangular 
point had entered very far, so the shot had been 
fired close by ; the moderately long alder- wood 
shaft was tipped with the feathers of the grey 
heron ; the long leather scabbard — the sword was 
missing — hung empty at the right side of the 
belt ; the spear, still grasped in the clenched right 


58 


FELICITAS. 


hand, was hewn through just at the spot where 
the iron mounting, extending downward from the 
hilt, stopped ; the stroke apparently dealt by a 
battle-axe, not a sword, had been a very heavy 
one ; so the soldier had probably lost helmet, 
shield, sword, and spear in a hand-to-hand en- 
counter, and received the pursuer’s arrow in his 
flight. 

Nothing more could be learned from the 
dead. 

But where were his comrades ? The tribune 
had sent out five Maurusian horsemen the day 
before to garrison the “ Hiigel der Halaunen,” a 
few leagues north-west of the city, which over- 
looked the whole region for a long distance, until 
the dense primeval forest in the north closed the 
view. On this spot stood a half-ruined watch- 
tower, repaired for the last time — a century ago — 
by the Emperor Valentinian I, who had ordered 
it to be kept constantly garrisoned. 

What had become of the other four men ? 

No one knew. 


The citizens had spent a night of anxious 


FELICITAS. 


59 


watchfulness. The sentries, bearing torches, in- 
dustriously made their rounds ; and small fires, 
kept burning in the places where broad flag-stones 
covered the earth and turf, w'ere not extinguished 
until the dawn of the early June morning. The 
sentinels now gazed sharply over the surrounding 
country, clearly visible in the broad light of day ; 
no trace of the foe could be seen. 

The country-people soon came from every 
direction in the neighborhood — as was their daily 
custom — to buy and sell in the city, and stared 
in amazement at finding the gates locked. The 
guards cautiously opened them to admit individuals, 
scanning them intently, one by one, to see whether 
they were well-known persons or spies, perhaps 
Barbarians in disguise. 

The harmless folk were greatly startled by this 
unusual strictness on the part of the sentinels at 
the gates ; questioning them was both useless and 
senseless, as they evidently knew nothing and were 
eagerly and anxiously intent upon entering the 
city to learn what had happened. 

From Vindelicia in the north-west, the precise 
direction from which the Barbarians’ approach was 
expected, the country people had appeared in the 


6o 


FELICITAS. 


same number as usual, and had seen nothing sus- 
picious. 

It was from the south-east alone that scarcely 
any one came, but this circumstance attracted no 
attention ; few villas and colonists’ houses were 
located there, and it was rare to have a visitor to 
the market from that quarter. The alarm of the 
previous evening might have been supposed a 
dream, had not the dead soldier served as a mute 
witness of its reality. 

When the first hours of the morning had 
passed without any threatening sign, and no 
enemy was perceived in the distance, — the bridge 
across the Ivarus below the city (a second one 
united the two shores within the walls) was seen 
to be unoccupied, — Severus, since the tribune was 
apparently detained in the capitol by his sprained 
knee, ordered the Vindelican Gate to be opened, and 
marched with a body of men to the bridge. He bar- 
ricaded the approach on the left or western bank 
with rocks and beams, and stationed thirty spears- 
men and slingers there to guard it, and, after convinc- 
ing himself that no trace of the enemy was anywhere 
to be seen, returned to the city. — Yet the old 
soldier did not relax his watchfulness ; he com- 


FELICITAS. 


6r 


manded the gates to be locked, the towers to be 
kept garrisoned, and news of every event to be 
instantly brought to him at the Bath of Amphi- 
trite, whither he now repaired to wash away the 
anxiety of the night, and the dust and perspiration 
of the march. 


After thoroughly enjoying a bath, he seated 
himself comfortably on the fleece covering 
the marble bench of the oval porphyry basin, now 
rubbing his arms, now his legs from the hips to the 
knees. This man of fifty-five was the picture of 
healthful, sturdy strength, — arms, thighs, and 
calves showed that the chase and gymnastic exer- 
cises had maintained the vigor of the well-pre- 
served body. 

He finally paused in the movement, and gradu- 
ally became absorbed in deeper and deeper reverie. 
His head bent lower and lower on his breast; at 
last he straightened his right arm entirely, and be- 
gan to draw figures in the pure white sand which 
covered the circular walk between the marble 
benches and the edge of the basin of water. 

Shall I make the ranks still deeper against 


62 


FELICITAS. 


the German wedge ?” he murmured. ‘‘ Ten — 
twelve men ? They can scarcely wheel now. And 
yet ! It must be a mere mathematical question to 
defeat these Germans. It’s only a problem of 
thrust and counterthrust. Who can solve it ? The 
best way would be. . . .” 

‘^The best way,” interrupted a low, melancholy 
voice, “ would be for us to lie in that dark sleep . 
where there is neither thrust nor counterthrust.” 

Severus turned, — the white woollen curtain of 
the inner bath was waving slightly ; a handsome 
man in the vigor of youth, fully armed, was stand- 
ing behind him. 

Is it you, Cornelius ? What do you mean ?” 

‘Wou know my opinion. Not to be born at 
all is the best fate for men.” 

“ For shame ! Already weary of life, at thirty 
years.” 

“ For shame yourself Almost sixty, and still 
so foolishly fond of it.” 

“ What news do you bring ?” 

“A piece of advice, — evacuate the city, order 
every one to the capitol, and send a swift messen- 
ger across the Alps for aid.” 

“You see ghosts and lemu res.” 


FELICITAS. 63 

“ Would that I only could ! But I see the 
Germans !” 

“ No one perceived a trace of them, far or 
near.” 

“ That’s the mysterious part of it. They mtist 
be near, very near, — and not one of us knows 
where they are.” 

“ Why must they be near ?” 

“ Because the grey heron doesn’t fly towards 
the south in the month of June, — and because it 
never flies so low.” 

“ What does that mean ?” 

“ It means that I made the rounds at midnight 
to relieve the guard on the tower of the Porta 
Latina. From the battlement I gazed intently 
into the darkness. Nothing was to be seen, no 
sound was heard save the song of the nightingale. 
Suddenly I distinguished the cry of the grey 
heron.” 

“ It is not common here,” replied Severus, 
yet it sometimes appears in the old channel and 
the marshy meadows of the I varus.” 

“ Certainly, but the call did not come from the 
river; it rose on this side of the stream from the 
woods on the hill.” 


64 


FELICITAS. 


Perhaps it has an eyry there.” 

But it was its migrating cry, and it doesn’t 
migrate till August. And there was a second, 
third, fourth answer to the first call, till the sounds, 
growing fainter and fainter, died away in the dis- 
tance.” 

“ The echo of the forest-clad mountains.” 

“That might be conceivable. — But the call 
did not come from high in the air ; it rose from 
below, from the earth, to where I stood on the 
battlements. The heron doesn’t fish at night !” 

The old man smiled pleasantly. “Yes, my 
Cornelius ! Believe the senior sportsman. It does 
fish at night when it has a young brood to feed. 

I caught one myself in a net I set at night and 
drew in the morning.” 

“ But that arrow was tipped with the feathers 
of — the grey heron. And whenever the grey 
heron called, the shrill scream of the golden eagle 
answered from the rocky cliffs still farther in the 
eastern woods.” 

“ Accident ! And how should the Germans 
threaten us from the east ? The Alemanni, who 
are nearest, can only come from the west, from 
Vindelicia. How could they have crossed the^ 


FELICITAS. 


65 


river unobserved, unless they have wings, like the 
grey herons themselves ? Caution is thoroughly 
praiseworthy, my young friend, and you see I 
don’t relax my watchfulness. But you are over- 
anxious, — youth and age have changed parts. I 
know,” Severus hastened to add, as an angry ex- 
pression flashed across the young man’s handsome 
face, — I know that Cornelius Ambiorix is anx- 
ious only for Rome, not for himself” 

“ Why should I be anxious about a life that 
has neither charm nor value ?” asked the other, in- 
stantly appeased, seating himself beside the old 
man. ‘^The philosophy of the sceptics destroyed 
the ancient gods, I cannot believe in the Jew of 
Nazareth. A blind fate guides the world. Rome, — 
my pride, my dream, is sinking, steadily sinking.” 

‘‘There you are mistaken,” replied the old 
man calmly. “ I would throw myself on this 
sword to-day,” — he seized the weapon which lay 
on a cushion beside him, — “if I shared that be- 
lief But this sword, — a legacy from my imperial 
ancestor Probus, — always gives me fresh consola- 
tion. Nine German kings knelt before his tent 
when he drew this blade from its sheath and or- 
dered the trembling foes to swear fealty, according 
s 


66 


FELICITAS, 


to their own custom, on the sword. And they 
swore it.” 

“That’s a long time ago.” 

“ And, with the weapon, our race inherits the 
oracle, — this sword will remain victor in every 
battle. Well, the saying has been tested by many 
generations of our family. I myself, so long as I 
was permitted to serve, have defeated the Germans 
in twenty battles and skirmishes — with this 
sword.” 

The old man pressed the weapon tenderly to 
his breast. 

“ Forgive my correcting you,” replied the 
other, smiling sadly. “You defeated the Ger- 
mans, not with this sword, but with Isaurians, 
.Moors, Illyrians, and — other Germans. Rome, 
Latium, Italy has no more men. There are 
no more Romans. Celtic blood flows in my 
veins, — Dacian in yours. And why are you no 
longer permitted to serve ? It was precisely be- 
cause you have so often conquered that the sus- 
picious emperor took the commander’s baton from 
your hands and, as a reward for your deeds, sent 
you hither into honorable exile.” 

“It was very — undeserved,” said Severus 


FELICITAS. 67 

rising, ^‘but no matter. Even here I can be use- 
ful to the Roman State.” 

“ Too late !” sighed the other. Fuimus Troesf 
It’s all over with us. Asia to the Parthians, 
Europe to the Germans, and to us — ruin. Every 
nation, like every human being, seems to have its 
death-hour. More than twelve centuries have 
passed since the she-wolf suckled Romulus. It 
must be admitted that the estimable beast had 
good milk ; the wolf’s blood in our veins has lasted 
a long time. But it is failing now, and the bap- 
tismal water has utterly decomposed it. How is 
the rulership of the world to be maintained when 
scarcely a Roman marries, scarcely a Roman 
woman bears children, or, if she does, never 
suckles them, while these German wives never 
heed the birth of a child, and in ten months present 
the world with twins. These forest people literally 
devour our substance ; they crowd us from the 
earth, even more by their chaste fruitfulness than 
their smiling courage in the face of death. The 
Emperor Claudius slew three hundred and forty 
thousand Goths, — in four years after four hundred 
thousand were in the field. They grow like the 
hydra’s heads, — and we are no longer herculean. 

5 * 


68 


FELICITAS. 


I am weary of it, and shall seek death in the next 
battle. One doesn’t suffer long when felled by a 
German blow.” 

Severus grasped the hand of the young man 
who had spoken so bitterly. “ I honor your grief, 
Cornelius. But you should practise as you 
preach ; your thalamos stands empty ; you must 
let Hymen’s hymns once more resound under the 
grey columns.” 

“Aha!” cried the young man, with a fierce 
laugh, “ that a second emperor may corrupt the 
second wife, as a bishop led astray my first be- 
trothed bride, an emperor my first wife. No ! In 
truth there are no more Romans, still less are 
_ there Roman women. Pleasure, love of finery, 
love of ruling, are the three graces they invoke. 
Did you ever hear that among these Barbarians 
priests delude the maidens, or kings lure the wives 
of free men from their hearths ? I never did ! But 
a nation without gods, native soldiers, virtuous 
wives, without children, — a nation that has 
every reason to tremble before its slaves, who are 
ten times more numerous than their masters, can 
no longer live 1 If you had only seen the sullen, 
murderous looks with which the argentarius’ slaves, 


FELICITAS. 


69 


when they were driven just now in chains 
through the city, threatened their master and 
the slave-driver! — But I myself? How stands 
it with me ? I have been everywhere and every- 
thing by turns, — in Rome, Ravenna, Byzantium, 
soldier, official, author. Always I have gained 
success, and yet found everything — vain, hollow. 
I have tried everything, — the end is nothingness. 
Now, returning home to my native city of Juva- 
vum, I find it ruled by a Byzantine usurer and a 
Mauritanian profligate and bully; the only person 
who still offers some opposition to this fine league 
is neither you nor I, — no, we are only honorable 
Romans ! — but a Christian priest, whose native 
country, as he boasts, is not the Roman empire, 
but the kingdom of heaven. I’m weary of it. 
Once more I say — a nation without gods, wives, 
mothers, or children, a nation whose battles are 
fought by hired Barbarians, cannot survive. It 
must die, and that speedily. Come, come, ye Ale- 
manni I I don’t wish to swallow hemlock. I 
would fain fall to the sound of the tuba, and fancy 
I am dying under Camillus or Scipio !” 

Severus seized the excited man by the shoul- 
ders : “ Promise me not to seek death until you 


70 


FELICITAS. 


see the next battle lost, and to find pleasure in liv- 
ing if we conquer.” 

Cornelius, smiling sorrowfully, nodded : “ I 

think I can boldly promise that. You and your 
victorious sword will no longer avail to stay the 
iron stride of ruin.” 

At that moment the shrill notes of the tuba 
fell upon their ears ; the curtain of the inner bath- 
room was torn aside and an armed citizen rushed 
in, calling : “ Haste, Severus, they are there now ; 
German horsemen are dashing out of the western 
woods on the opposite bank of the river.” 


71 


CHAPTER VII. 

The old man had been hastily armed by the 
messenger and the slaves at the bath, and now, 
accompanied by Cornelius, hastened to the Porta 
Vindelica to ascend the high wall there, which af- 
forded an extensive view. 

He became very much heated while so doing; 
for it was now high noon and the sun poured its 
burning rays perpendicularly down upon his heavy 
helmet 

At the gate one of the tribune’s centurions 
met him. Leo had seen from the capitol the 
horsemen swarming out of the western woods 
sooner than they had been descried by the sentries 
on the walls, and sent word that there were only 
about a hundred Germans; he would instantly 
lead his troops outside the gates, for he was again 
able to mount his horse. 

Meantime Severus ordered the soldier to fol- 
low him to the wall, and, with Cornelius, sharply 


72 


FELICITAS. 


scanned the plain which stretched from the left 
bank of the river to the western woods. 

After gazing a long time he turned away and 
was about to speak to Cornelius, but his glance 
fell upon two colonists who were looking anx- 
iously in the same direction. 

“ Well, Geta,” he said, you are certainly a 
simpleton. You swore by all the saints and by 
the ‘ Halaunen,’ that you saw no trace of the foe. 
Your huts stand yonder near the western forest. 
And now the Barbarians are between you and the 
city. Were you blind and deaf?” 

“ Or did you wish to be so ?” interrupted 
Cornelius suspiciously. “ Remember,” he said 
warningly to Severus, “they have every reason to 
side with the Barbarians. The latter are rude and 
prone to sudden wrath, but they don’t torture 
the very marrow from their bondmen’s bones 
like the imperial tax-collectors.” 

“ No, my lord, I am no traitor,” replied the 
older colonist, “ I don’t side with the Barbarians ; 
I served under the great Aetius and received an 
honorable discharge and yonder little farm. Be- 
lieve an old legionary, — and if you don’t trust 
me, keep me as a hostage till the whole matter is 


FELICITAS. 


73 


settled, — I was boiling pitch, for which the Ra- 
venna dealers pay a high price, yesterday with my 
nephew here in the western woods, — the whole 
forest isn’t five miles wide ; if there had been 
many Barbarians hidden in it, we must have seen 
them. At any rate it is no migrating body, no 
army of people ; they are adventurers, a few 
horsemen, who wish to see how the land is 
guarded.” 

“We’ll show them how it is guarded,” cried 
Severus, raising his right hand threateningly. 
“ The veteran is right, Cornelius. I believe him. 
It’s only a handful of horsemen flitting about near 
the river. We’ll pay them for their insolence. Go 
back to the tribune, Himilko. I decline any aid 
from his Moors, — do you hear, I decline it; it’s a 
point of honor to show these robbers that the 
citizens of Juvavum are men enough to punish 
them unassisted.” 

“ I agree with you,” said Cornelius. “ It may 
be only a wandering band.” 

“ Nevertheless, I will be cautious and attack 
with a greatly superior force ; I must conquer this 
time, — on account of your vow, Cornelius.” 

He laid his hand on the other’s shoulder with 


74 


FELICITAS. 


paternal affection, and went down the narrow 
flight of steps in the wall. 

On reaching the gate below he ordered the 
tuba-players to hurry through every quarter, sum- 
moning the citizens to the Porta Vindelica by the 
signal for a sally ; the attack would be made in 
fifteen minutes. 

The warning blare instantly echoed loudly in 
every quarter of the city, and from all the streets 
armed volunteers flocked towards the north-wes- 
tern gate. 

Fat Crispus, who came panting out of the 
workshop close at hand, was one of the first to 
arrive; he carried a huge spear wearily on his shoul- 
der, and was burdened with a heavy shield ; it was 
hot, and Crispus was old and corpulent. On his 
head, instead of a helmet, he wore some cooking 
utensil in which old Ancilla in peaceful times used 
to bake holiday cakes, — which were only too 
greasy. True, it had now been freshly scoured, 
but it was somewhat too large and rattled about 
his ears at every step, giving him no very warlike 
appearance. 

Severus, shaking his head, looked at him : 
“ Well, the spirit is willing. ...” 


FELICITAS. 


75 


“ And the flesh isn’t weak !” said Cornelius de- 
risively. 

“ But,” continued Severus, “ I would rather 
see your slender nephew, the stone-cutter. Why 
does he refuse his arm to his native land ? Is he 
always with his young wife ? Where is he ?” 

“ Here !” called a beseeching voice high over 
their heads, before Crispus could answer, — he 
had only pointed to the tower beside the gate, — 
and behind the grated loop-hole in the second 
story of the tower appeared Fulvius, eagerly 
stretching out both hands. 

Let me out. General ! help me down, and I’ll 
thank you with the spear.” 

“ Order the warden, — there he stands in the 
door-way, — to release my nephew, oh, Severus!’' 
pleaded Crispus, appealing to the surprised com- 
mander. “Zeno, the usurer, has had him im- 
prisoned.” 

“ Release the man, Carcerarius I” said the old 
officer. “ I need strong young arms. Let him 
first pay his debt to his native land ; if he falls, he 
will be free from all demands ; if he survives, he 
shall go back to the tower.” 

The carcerarius hesitated, but a thrust in the 


76 


FELICITAS. 


ribs, impatiently administered by Cornelius, 
changed his sentiments. “ I yield to violence,” he 
said, rubbing the spot. 

“What iron faithfulness to duty, — a true 
Roman soul !” jeered Cornelius. 

Directly after Fulvius leaped over the thresh- 
old, seized a shield and spear brought to him 
from the store of weapons on the wall, and cried, 
“ Out, out of the gate !” 

The general’s glance rested complacently upon 
him. “ I commend such zeal. You long for the 
battle ?” 

“ Ah ! no, my Lord,” replied the young man 
frankly, “only for Felicitas.” 

While the former turned indignantly away, 
Crispus consoled his nephew. “ I have kept your 
house constantly in sight from the wall ; calm 
yourself, no Barbarian has yet crossed the river.” 

“ And the tribune ?” whispered the young hus- 
band. 

“ Has not left the capitol.” 

“ And Zeno ?” 

“ Is wholly occupied in bringing his treasures 
into the city and hiding them.” 

The tuba-players returned from their rounds ; 


FELICITAS. 


77 


the last citizens from the most distant houses now 
arrived. Severus and Cornelius divided them into 
two bodies, each containing about three hundred 
men ; then the old hero came to the front, saying : 
“ Romans ! Men of Juvavum ! Follow me ! Out 
beyond the gate, and woe to the Barbarians !” 

He expected loud shouts of applause, but all 
were silent. 

Only one man stepped out of the ranks, say- 
ing anxiously : “ May I ask you a question ?” 

“ Ask !” replied Severus angrily. 

“ How many Barbarians are there probably 
outside ?” 

“ Scarcely a hundred.” 

” And we number six hundred !” said the 
brave warrior, with a smile of satisfaction, “ On !” 
he shouted suddenly, turning to the citizens and 
striking his sword on his shield. ” On to the gate ! 
Woe to the Barbarians !” 

“ Woe to the Barbarians !” the whole band 
now shouted. 

The gate was opened, and the men hurried 
out of the city, over the drawbridge which was 
lowered at the same time across the moat. 

The whole extent of the walls was left scantily 


78 


FELICITAS. 


guarded ; women and children hurried out of the 
houses, climbed the ramparts, and gazed after their 
relatives, who were moving at a rapid march along 
the bridge below the city, whose western end had 
been barricaded and garrisoned by a small band 
of men that morning. 


79 


CHAPTER VIII. 

At noon, when the Alemanni first appeared, 
Leo the tribune was lying on a soft couch, covered 
with a lion’s skin, in his richly-furnished room in 
the lofty tower of the capitol. He was in the best 
possible humor, for his foot no longer ached and 
impeded his movements, so he lay stroking the 
thick black beard that framed his narrow, bronzed 
face, originally noble in its outlines, but long since 
furrowed by unholy passions. 

Before him, on a citron-wood table, stood a 
half-empty jug of fiery Siculian wine and a silver 
goblet 

The Greek slaves, father and son, were serving 
him. The older, holding up his finger warningly, 
brought the mixing-vessel. 

But his master laughingly waved him back say- 
ing: “North of the Alps nature herself mingles 
too much coldness with our blood; we need 
not thin the wine. Isn’t that true, my reserved 
Antinous ? There, drink !” 


8o 


FELICITAS. 


He offered the goblet to a third attendant, a 
remarkably handsome boy about fifteen years old 
who, crouching on the floor in the extreme corner 
of the tower- room, as far as possible from Leo, 
had turned his back upon his master. 

The lad wore nothing but a purple apron 
about his loins, — the tribune had ordered the rest 
of his garments to be removed that he might feast 
his eyes upon the beautiful limbs. 

The prisoner, without turning his handsome, 
sorrowful face, shook his head, from which floated 
long, waving golden hair, and said in an angry, 
defiant tone : 

“My name is not Antinous, — I am called 
Hortari. Set me free ; let me go back to my home 
in the rustling forest of the Danubius ! Or kill 
me; for know, base man, I will never serve you.” 

Leo furfously flung the heavy key of the 
citadel, which lay on the stool before him, at the 
lad. “ Hence, obstinate hound ! Davus, drag him 
to the stable and hang him in chains there,” he 
continued, addressing the younger slave, who was 
arranging the tribune’s weapons. “ If the brat 
won’t be his master’s plaything, — away with him 
to the beasts !” 


FELICITAS. 


8l 


The boy sprang up and threw on his woollen 
cloak. Davus dragged him out, and Leo did not 
see the look of deadly hate which the young Ger- 
man, hastily turning on the threshold, cast at 
him. 

His good-humor speedily returned. 

“ I shall have better company here to-morrow 
than an unruly young bear !” he said smiling, 
again stroking his dark beard. “ Felicitas ! I drink 
this to our first embrace.” 

And he drained the goblet. 

Then standing up and saying, “ I no longer 
need support,” he pushed the elder slave aside, 
approached the window in the tower, and looked 
out. 

There are not a hundred of these bold Bar- 
barians. What audacity ! Only a few carry de- 
fensive weapons ! And their offensive ones are 
pitiful. How many of their javelins, spears, and 
battle-axes have splintered harmlessly against my 
helmet and armor ! They come just at the right 
time for me ! I long for battle and victory. There 
is a stir below in the city streets. Severus is as- 
sembling his cobblers and tinkers, but they will 
never get the better of the swift foe. When the 
6 


82 


FELICITAS. 


old man who is playing general is in the worst 
strait, — I’ll let him flounder a long time by 
way of punishment, — I’ll dash out with my 
troopers like a simoon, and sweep them away 
before me. But first to the priest. No human 
being in the city is thinking of anything except 
the Barbarians outside the walls. So the deed can 
be done unperceived. The priest must have 
become very dangerous indeed, when the cow- 
ardly money-bag himself counsels bloody means. 
The psalm-singer has always menaced me. 
First security and vengeance, — then the joy of 
victory, and, as a reward — Felicitas. Order Pluto 
to be saddled,” he said, turning to the old slave, 
“and help me arm myself” 

The grey-haired attendant took the command 
to the court-yard and returned to the tower- 
room, where he helped his master, who had al- 
ready donned the high helmet with its fluttering 
crest of black horsehair, and his beautiful greaves, 
to clasp and hook the latter, as well as the superb 
cuirass, adorned with many a badge of honor, over 
his dark red tunic. While Leo buckled on his 
sword and seized the bronze shield with a long, 
stout spike in the centre, the old man carefully 


FELICITAS. 


83 


brought from a small ivory casket that stood in 
the corner beside the couch, a small leather strap, 
with two tiny glittering amulets, which with a 
mute, beseeching, eloquent glance he offered to 
his master. 

They were an ugly little idol carved from am- 
ber and a narrow silver case. 

“ Oh, my lord, take them !” pleaded the Greek, 
as Leo pushed the whole array contemptuously 
aside. 

“ What am I to do with them ? \Vhat are 
they. . . 

“ Don’t revile them,” said the old slave be- 
seechingly, “ or they will be angry and no longer 
protect. Don’t you remember these defensive or- 
naments ? One is the Egyptian god Ptah, and 
the case contains a hair from the beard of the 
apostle Paul. If the first fails, the other will pro- 
tect you. Wear both, — I had a bad dream last 
night.” 

“Then wear yourself '' 

“ The dream did not threaten me, but you, oh, 
my lord ! I thought I saw you celebrating your 
nuptials. ...” 

6 * 


84 


FELICITAS. 


‘‘ Oh, you often see that ! This time with 
Felicitas ?” 

“ No, with Persephone, queen of the Shades.*' 

“ She is said to be very beautiful,” laughed 
the tribune, stretching out his strong arms ; “ let 
her come, she will be welcome.” 

May the omen be far from you !” cried the 

slave. 

“ Are you really anxious about me ? Do you 
care for my life ? Why ? Tell me, why ?” 

“ Oh, my lord, you have never been so un- 
kind to old Chrysos as . . . .” 

“ As to all the rest, you mean ?” said the Moor 
laughing. “ Only selfishness, old man ; I need 
you, — that is, your knowledge of surgery and 
skilful fingers.” 

“ If you would only pray ! And love some 
creature on earth, — revere some name ! It would 
be better for you !” 

The soldier laughed harshly. “ Love ? I love 
a different woman every month.” 

“You destroy what you love !” 

“ And pray ? To what god should I pray ? I 
have seen men pray with the same fervor and with 
the same success to Astarte and Artemis, Osiris 


FELICITAS. 


85 


and Jupiter, Christ and Jehovah. But revere ? 
What should be sacred to me? When scarcely so 
old as yonder German lad, Vandal horsemen stole 
me and I lost parents and home forever — ! Sold 
as a slave to the Romans, I suffered and enjoyed 
unspeakable things while a boy, — petted, kissed, 
fed, lashed, I killed my last master, fled to the 
Calabrian forests, became a robber, rose to be 
chief of the band, was captured, condemned to take 
part in the games at the circus, and, when my 
blood already stained the sand of the arena, was 
pardoned by the emperor, placed among the mer- 
cenaries, and soon by savage courage became cem 
turion and tribune. To what god should I pray ? 
They all deserted me, so long as I trusted them. 
Since I have jeered at them. Fortune has served 
me as faithfully as a love-lorn lass. And what 
shall I love and honor ? My home with its rust- 
ling palm-trees? It serves Vandals! Rome? 
Rome first abused .me as a conquered wild-beast, 
and now sets me, like a tamed lion, on her foes. 
Well, I have chosen my fierce fellow-native’s 
nature as well as his name,” — and he patted the 
proud mane of the desert-king on his couch : 
•'Booty, — pleasure, — battle I Wine, — weapons, — 


86 


FELICITAS. 


women ! That’s all that is worth living for. And 
after the last carouse, — no waking; eternal night 
in the silent wilderness of death.” 

With these words he seized both amulets, flung 
them out of the tower window, grasped his javelin, 
which rested against the wall, and rushed clat- 
tering down the steep turret-stairs. 

The Greek, sighing and shaking his head, fol- 
lowed. 

On reaching the spacious court-yard, the tri- 
bune ordered his whole troop to mount and 
follow him down to the city to the Forum of Her- 
cules, He then directed the squadron to form there 
in readiness for a sally, and await his orders. He 
told the centurion Himilko to remain with his 
Isaurian foot-soldiers in front of the capitol and 
watch the course of the battle outside the gates, 
as well as what transpired within the city ; but in 
any case, should interference seem necessary, 
either in Juvavum or beyond the walls, to first 
close the strong gate of the citadel, leaving two 
guards inside. His two slaves, — the old Greek 
and his son, — he ordered in a low tone to wait 
with the closed litter at the foot of the hill crowned 
by the capitol. “ I must be prepared for every- 


FELICITAS. 


87 


thing,” he reflected : “To drag a struggling woman 
on horseback up the steep path might compel me 
to do her some serious injury, — like that Galla !” 

And now, having completed all his arrange- 
ments, he put his foot in the stirrup, and swung him- 
self upon Pluto, his magnificent black Spanish 
stallion, which had been impatiently striking 
sparks from the granite pavement with its fore- 
hoofs. 

Scarcely was he seated in the saddle, when his 
glance fell, — through the open door of the stable, — 
on the boy Hortari, who, chained by both out- 
stretched arms between two iron horse-racks, was 
hanging on the wall ; in one corner of the stable 
lay a blue German buckler, a spear, and a battle- 
axe, the weapons taken from the lad when cap- 
tured. 

“ Aha, the future Antinous !” he cried laughing, 
bracing the javelin against his side. “ Release 
him ! He must go to the walls to see the destruc- 
tion of his German heroes. At night we’ll chain 
him up with a whole pack of such bears.” 

He struck the spurs into his horse, which, 
neighing loudly, reared. 

“ Beware of the beasts in the primeval forest,” 


88 


FELICITAS. 


cried Hortari, now appearing unfettered at the 
stable door. Their claws will rend you.” 

But the laughing tribune shouted : ** On I On 
to the gate ! Woe betide the Barbarians !” 

And, following their powerful leader, the bril- 
liant troop of horsemen dashed impetuously with 
clanking armor down into the valley. 


89 


CHAPTER IX. 

Meantime the tribune's ally, Zeno, had re- 
ceived the first tidings of the Germans’ appear- 
ance before the city with less courage. He owned 
outside the gates many an estate, tilled by male 
and female slaves, who might seize the opportu- 
nity, as these sorely-tortured people often did in 
such cases, to fly to the Barbarians and go into 
the wide world with them. 

Besides, though no patron of art and too 
cautious to leave his treasures outside the fortifica- 
tions, his villas contained many valuable effects 
and pieces of furniture, also herds of cattle, sheep, 
and swine, which the thrifty owner would have re- 
luctantly yielded to the robbers. 

So, during the early morning hours, as nothing 
had yet been seen of the Alemanni, when Severus 
marched out to reconnoitre and garrison the bridge 
over the Ivarus, he sent, under the protection of the 
troops, his slave-master, a freedman, with a band 
of armed servants, to bring back to the city the 


90 


FELICITAS. 


most valuable articles in the country-houses on 
this bank of the river, especially the slaves be- 
longing to the estates, — if necessary, by force. 

The latter, farm-laborers and shepherds, ruder, 
wilder, more untrained than the city-servants, had 
obeyed unwillingly ; on two estates the unhappy 
bondmen tried to resist, but were overpowered by 
superior numbers and chained to each other ; the 
slave-driver constantly swung his many-lashed 
leather whip over the swearing throng, to urge 
them to greater, haste or add still heavier burdens 
to the load they carried on their heads. 

In a long procession, the fettered prisoners in 
the centre, the cattle and sheep in front, armed 
slaves on both sides, and the freedmen at the head 
and rear of the line, they now returned through 
the porta Vindelica, which had just closed behind 
them. 

Forward, Thrax, you old hound !” shouted 
Calvus, the freedman, — who was reputed to be 
the son of Zeno by a female slave, — to a white- 
haired old man, who was staggering under the 
weight of the bronze vessels he carried ; and as 
the trembling bondman could not quicken his 
pace, he struck him a cruel blow on his bare back 


FELICITAS. 


91 


with the flat of his sword-blade. The old man 
shrieked loudly and fell 

A gigantic herdsman, loaded with extra 
heavy chains, — he had defended himself fiercely 
and was bleeding from several wounds, — came to 
a halt, thereby checking the progress of the other 
fettered slaves. 

Spare my father, Calvus, I beseech you ! 
Put his burden on me.” 

“Just wait, Keix, you accursed Thracian, I’ll 
give you a fitting load,” shrieked Calvus, striking 
him on the head and shoulder with the sharp 
edge of the sword, so that the blood spouted into 
the air. 

The wounded man kept silence ; no cry of 
pain escaped his compressed lips. 

“ You have rebelled, slave, with open vio- 
lence,” continued Calvus ; “ we could have you 
quartered for it. But one loses too much capital 
by killing such beasts, after having fed them 
thirty years. Patience, my son ! I’ll try the new 
instruments of torture on yau, which the master 
ordered from Byzantium. It shall be my amuse- 
ment this evening.” 

The strong Thracian paled, not with fear but 


92 


FELICITAS. 


fury. He cast a single glance at his tormentor 
and walked on again. 

While other servants divided the animals in 
the herds among Zeno’s city stables, the chained 
slaves were led by Calvus to the court-yard of their 
master’s mansion in the Via Augustana to be sen- 
tenced to punishment. 

“ Do whatever you please,” Zeno had said to 
the freedman, while reading in his office the in- 
ventory of the property saved; “only do not injure 
the sluggards’ lives and value, do not impair their 
working power. Besides, according to the pious 
Constantine’s decree, we must obtain the judge’s 
sentence before mutilating them. I’ll ask my 
brother-in-law, Mucius, afterwards!' he added, 
smiling, “ but, with a slight change in the facts. 
Now I’ll go to Amphitrite’s Bath to hear the news.” 

While walking through the court-yard accom- 
panied by Calvus, his eye rested on old Thrax, 
who was lying on some straw in a corner ; ex- 
hausted by fatigue, he had fallen into a heavy 
slumber; his gigantic son, loaded with fetters, 
leaned against the wall beside him ; blood was 
streaming from his wounds upon his aged father. 

Zeno pushed the sleeper with his staff; the old 


FELICITAS. 


93 


man opened his weary eyes : “ Ah, I am still alive! 
I dreamed the Lord had already called me I I was 
walking in Paradise 1 But on earth, too, I belong 
to my master, Christ.” 

'‘Then your master, Christ, must feed you,” 
sneered Zeno. “ Calvus, that old man is of no 
farther use. Deprive him of wine and bacon. 
We’re feeding him for nothing.” 

His eye met the glance of the son, who was 
clenching his chains in his fists. 

Zeno shrank. 

“Listen, Calvus,” he whispered, “sell that fel- 
low speedily, after he is tortured. He makes me 
uncomfortable. He looks as our black bull did, 
just before it went mad. To the mines of the 
Fiscus with him ! They need such strong louts 
there, — and the lead soon poisons them. Now 
for the bath !” 

With these words he left the court-yard. 

Scarcely had he crossed the threshold of his 
house, when a lame slave limped in, who bore a 
strong resemblance to the gigantic Keix, — it was 
his elder brother. 

YeLhe seemed to notice neither his old father 
nor his bleeding brother, but hobbled straight to 


94 


FELICITAS. 


Calvus and, with a low bow, said: master, 

Mucius the judge, sends you this paper. Zeno 
and you have been accused by Johannes the 
priest, because you had the Syrian woman flogged 
till her unborn child died. He thinks he will And 
it very difficult to acquit you this time.” 

The paper was a long one ; while Calvus, 
with a frowning brow, read the contents, the 
cripple glided noiselessly past his brother and 
pressed a file, wrapped in a strip of papyrus, into 
his hand. Keix read “ After dinner,” raised the 
slender strip to his mouth with his fettered hand 
and swallowed it. 

The cripple again stood behind Calvus: “What 
answer, sir?” 

The freedman angrily returned the bill of 
indictment. “ May Orcus swallow this priest ! 
He knows everything that doesn’t concern him. 
I must speak to your master myself Go on ! — 
You certainly have an ugly limp, Kottys,” he 
added, laughing. “ But the remedy proved effec- 
tual. We sold you to the judge as incorrigible, 
but, since your master had your sinews cut, you 
haven’t repeated the attempt to run away, and have 
grown tame, perfectly tame.” 


FELICITAS. 


95 


While uttering these words, both left the 
court-yard. 


At the end of an hour Zeno returned from the 
bath; as he crossed the court-yard the slaves, 
both chained and unchained ones, were sitting at 
their scanty noontide meal of tiny scraps of coarse 
barley-bread, onions, and sour wine, which had 
almost turned to vinegar. 

He went to his office to reckon his property. 

No one — as was well known — was allowed to 
disturb him there. 

This room was the only one in the house 
which, instead of a curtain, was supplied with a 
strong wooden door, which could be locked. 

The low window looked out not upon the main 
street, but on a narrow alley. 

He soon noticed that an unusually loud noise, 
like that of many persons screaming and running, 
fell upon his ear from the distance. 

Then the door softly opened. 

Amazed and angry, Zeno turned towards the 
intruder. 

He was still more surprised; for old Thrax 


96 


FELICITAS. 


crossed the threshold, cautiously closed the door, 
turned the key, and raised his finger warningly to 
his lips to impose silence, — his master had uttered 
an exclamation of wrath. 

“ Fly, Master ! Quick ! Through the window 1 
You are a dead man if they catch you.” 

‘‘Who? Are the Barbarians in the city?” 

“Your slaves! They have all conspired, all in 
Juvavum. They will break out immediately.” 

Terror seized the Byzantine. He was aware 
what fearful vengeance he had conjured up. 

Already furious shouts reached his ear from 
the court- yard. 

He grasped a large bag filled with gold coins 
and a small purse of gems, which lay on the slate 
counter before him, — he had been about to count 
them ; the old slave pushed a stool up to the win- 
dow to make it easier to climb up. 

Zeno started; he was amazed to see the slave 
trying so eagerly to aid his escape. 

“ Why are you doing this for me ?” 

“ For the Saviour’s sake,” replied Thrax sol- 
emnly; “Johannes taught me that my master, 
Christ, said : ‘ Recompense evil with good.’ ” 


FELICITAS. 


97 


“ But where ! Where shall I fly ?” 

“To the basilica! There is shelter there. 
Johannes will protect you.” 

“ Johannes 1” 

Zeno was wondering whether the tribune had 
already carried out his murderous advice. 

His knees trembled. He could not climb the 
low window-sill. 

Nearer and nearer sounded the noise from the 
court-yard. 

He heard Calvus’ voice, shrieking : “ Mercy ! 
Mercy I” 

Directly after there was a heavy fall. 

“ Oh!” groaned Zeno, now at last lifted to the 
window by old Thrax. “ If they should guess — 
my hiding-place ...” 

“No one knows it except me, master ! And 
I ” 

“ You shall not betray me !” cried the Byzan- 
tine, who tore his dagger from his tunic, thrust it 
to the hilt in the old man’s throat, and swung 
himself out into the street. 


98 


CHAPTER X. 

Meantime the battle outside the gates was 
being decided. 

The Barbarians, about eighty horsemen, had 
frequently galloped along the riverside, always 
within bow-shot, and approached the barri- 
caded bridge, but had attempted no assault on 
this secure position. 

The eyes of all upon the walls, as well as of 
those making the sally, were turned towards the 
west, and fixed upon this foe. 

When the bridge was reached, Severus or- 
dered a narrow opening to be made in the barri- 
cade, through which only two men at a time could 
pass to the left bank. The bridge remained in 
charge of its original garrison, and, as the last two 
citizens, closing the long procession, passed through, 
the scream of the golden eagle echoed loudly and 
shrilly from the cliffs of the eastern forest on the 
right bank. 

Cornelius hastily turned his helmeted head 


FELICITAS. 


99 


and gazed intently towards the east. Did you 
hear the eagle’s cry ?” 

Severus nodded : “ A good omen for Roman 

warriors ! Do you see how the golden eagle on 
the pole of our standard seems to lift its wings ?” 

But Cornelius was not looking at the eagle on 
the standard, his eyes were fixed on the eastern 
forest: column of smoke is rising from the 

chamois rock yonder.” 

A charcoal burner ! Turn your face ! The 
foe is in the west. Lower your spears ! For- 
ward !” 

The greatly superior force now advanced in 
two columns, side by side, each three ranks deep, 
stretching far apart, against the nimble horsemen, 
who had dashed swiftly back from the river when 
the throng of foot-soldiers crossed the bridge ; 
half-way between the river and the western forest 
they paused, posting themselves in two small 
bands. Only the distance that a spear might be 
hurled separated the foes. 

Just as Cornelius and Severus, marching at the 
head of their columns, were lifting their javelins, 
two Germans, turning the points of their lances 
straight downward, rode slowly towards them. 

7 * 


100 


FELICITAS. 


“ Halt !” Severus shouted to his men. “ They 
want to parley. We will hear them.” 

The two horsemen now came close to Severus 
and Cornelius ; the ranks of soldiers on both sides 
remained behind. One, a tall, superbly-formed 
youth, mounted on a milk-white steed, was marked 
as a leader by the lustre and ornamentation of his 
arms. He was probably more than ten years 
younger than Cornelius, but the latter gazed envi- 
ously at the sinewy strength of the Barbarian’s bare 
right arm, which was at once adorned and pro- 
tected by broad gold bracelets; the left bore a 
small round shield, painted red ; a golden wheel 
without spokes, — a Runic character or representa- 
tion of the sun, — ornamented the centre. His 
breast was defended by an admirably-wrought cui- 
rass, — Severus perceived with fury by the badges 
hanging from it that it had formerly been the 
armor of a very distinguished Roman officer, a 
legate or magister militum; short leather breeches 
covered the upper part of the thighs; from the 
ankles upward the bare calves were laced around 
with delicate leather straps : the left one of the 
pair of tight-fitting wooden shoes had a spur; the 
rider disdained stirrups or saddle ; a short battle- 


FELICITAS. 


lOI 


axe was thrust in his belt, a white woollen mantle, 
fastened by a rope, fluttered from his back, in no 
wise restraining his action ; a mother’s hand — for 
this youth was evidently still unwedded — had 
doubtless woven the beautiful scarlet stripes in the 
border; magnificent golden locks, framing the radi- 
antly-handsome, girlishly-fair face, fell on his 
shoulders ; and from the proudly-arched Roman 
helmet, won in battle, rose, instead of the Latin 
crest of black horsehair, the pinions of the grey 
heron. 

The second horseman was a powerful, gigantic 
old man, of about sixty, whose grey beard, tossed by 
the wind, floated low on his breast; he seemed to be 
the leader of the young noble’s followers ; though 
plainly clad and armed, he, like the youth, had 
daintily braided red and yellow ribbons through 
the mane and tail of his strong charger, a brown 
stallion; about his shoulders he wore a wolf’s- 
skin, whose open jaws gaped down upon the foe 
from the top of his helmet ; his shield was painted 
in red and yellow circles, and on his unprotected 
breast he wore a huge bugle made out of a horn 
of a bison of the primeval forest. 

The chief now raising his lowered spear, 


102 


FELICITAS. 


took it in his bridle-hand, and, bending from his 
steed, offered Severus his right hand, which the 
latter took reluctantly and instantly dropped. 

First a clasp of the hand,” cried the German 
in a soft, musical voice in excellent vulgar Latin, 
“ first a clasp of the hand ; then, if it so please 
you, a blow with the sword. — You, I know, are 
Severus, the brave ex-Magister Militum, who 
fought boldly at lost posts for a lost cause. But I 
boast of being the son of the hero Liutbert, a 
king of the Alemanni ; my name is Liuthari, and 
no man has conquered me yet.” 

Severus frowned darkly: I’ve heard your 
father’s name and yours; you stormed Augusta 
Vindelicorum.” 

But did not keep it,” cried the prince, his 
clear grey eyes sparkling merrily. “ Who wants 
to live in walled tombs ? We shall not settle in 
your Juvavum either.” 

“That is provided for,” said Severus threaten- 
ingly. 

But Liuthari, tossing back his locks, laughed 
gaily. “Wait! — But first tell me, for whom are 
you leading these citizens to. the field ? In whose 
name do you defend Juvavum ?” 


FELICITAS. 


103 


“For the emperor at Ravenna, who — an 
omen of promise — bears the united names of the 
first king and the first emperor; for Romulus 
Augustulus, the master of the world.” 

“ I thought so,” said the German, drawing 
from his belt a roll of papyrus which he flung to 
Cornelius. “ You know less of what happens in 
Italy, in your own capital, than we Barbarians. 
Read what some one, who is in a position to know, , 
has written to me. There is no longer a sovereign 
of the western empire ! Romulus Augustulus — 
ay, the boy’s name was indeed an omen of promise 
to tis — is deposed ; henceforth he will live on an 
island and feed peacocks. On his throne sits the 
bold Odovakar, my beautiful sister’s husband, who 
wrote the tidings to us himself” 

Cornelius, who had hastily glanced over the 
letter, turned pale and silently handed it toSeverus. 
The latter trembled as he read the contents. 

“There is no doubt,” he said in a hollow tone. 

“ I know the man ; he served under me. Odova- 
kar does not lie.” 

“Nor do we,” cried Liuthari’s grey-bearded 
companion, urging his horse forward and taking 
the letter from Liuthari’s hand. “ I have taught 


104 


FELICITAS. 


King Liutbert’s son to cleave shields, not to coun- 
terfeit Runic letters.” 

The old man was to be believed ; before put- 
ting the letter into his belt he looked into it with 
a very important air, never heeding that the let- 
ters were upside down. 

Severus leaned on his spear, Cornelius gazed 
gloomily into vacancy. “ I knew it,” said the lat- 
^ ter. I almost wished it to come, since I saw it 
was inevitable, — yet, now it has happened, it 
crushes me.” 

“No longer an emperor in Rome!” groaned 
Severus. 

“ Italy in the hands of the Barbarians!” sighed 
Cornelius. 

“ You rouse my deep compassion, brave 
heroes !” said the prince earnestly. “ But doubt- 
less you now perceive that the battle must be over 
before it has fairly begun. For whom, for what 
will you still fight ?” 

“ For the future !” cried Severus. 

“ For the past, for honor !” exclaimed Cor- 
nelius. 

“ For eternal Rome !” said both. 

“ Byzantium still rules, — Byzantium will send 


FELICITAS. 


105 


a new emperor,” cried Severus in a threatening 
tone. 

“ Perhaps so,” said Liuthari, shrugging his 
shoulders. “ But meantime we Germans need 
land, fields, pasturage. So I bring you a message 
in my father’s name. Thus says Liutbert, King 
of the Alemanni, — in his name and that of his 
allies. ...” 

“ Who are these allies ?” interrupted Cor- 
nelius. 

You’ll learn sooner than will please you,” 
replied Liuthari’s companion sullenly. 

But the former continued : 

Let those remain who wish to stay in the 
country and who are peaceably disposed ; the rest 
may depart in peace ; the fortifications must be 
evacuated and dismantled ; two-thirds of the land 
shall still be yours, — one-third ours. That is a 
fair division.” 

But Severus, raising his spear, cried angrily : 
** Insolent Barbarian! Dare you speak thus? with 
only eighty horsemen against Juvavum’s body 
of citizens I You have learned to speak the 
Latin tongue, but not to understand a Roman’s 
thoughts.” 


io6 


FELICITAS. 


I should suppose your own land might still be 
enough for you, Alemanni,” said Cornelius, “ if 
you can send only eighty horsemen to conquer 
Juvavum. You are too few for me to yield to 
you !” 

A peculiar smile hovered around the Ale- 
manni’s handsome mouth, just shaded by the first 
down of manhood : ** Beware, Roman ! Are we 

too few for you ? We might soon seem too many. 
Wonder-working Wotanus wakes many from few ! 
— For the last time ! give up yonder citadel, — 
share the land peacefully !” 

“ Never ! Back, Barbarian !” shouted both 
Romans in the same breath. 

Liuthari wheeled his horse. 

“You have decided. Then you are lost. 
Wotan will have you all.” 

Both horsemen dashed back to their men. 

“ Sound your horn, Haduwalt !” 

The old man raised his horn to his lips, and a 
loud roaring noise fell on the ears of the Romans. 

Ere the latter, obeying their commander’s or- 
der, could rush upon the Germans, the loud scream 
of the golden eagle, now close at hand, rose in 
the rear of the Romans, from the east, from the 


FELICITAS. 


07 


river, the city; and immediately after there was 
such a terrible medley of battle-shouts, cries of 
terror, and clanking weapons, that the whole six 
hundred men and their two leaders turned in 
alarm. 

Horror and despair seized upon them, — Ger- 
mans in countless numbers, as it seemed to the 
startled spectators, were pouring from the eastern 
forest, the slopes of the mountains, the copses on 
the hills ; one strong band rushed towards the 
bridge ; others, in scattered bodies of horse and 
foot-soldiers, plunged into the river above and 
below it ; but the largest number, bearing trunks of 
trees and ladders, surrounded the city on all the 
sides visible to those who had sallied forth. The 
barred-out defenders beheld with bitter grief how, 
almost without resistance from the feeble garrison, 
whole bodies of assailants, clinging together like 
ants and mutually supporting each other, in many 
places simultaneously gained the top of the wall 
by climbing up on ladders, beams, and trees whose 
horizontal boughs, left on, served as ladders. 

Juvavum was captured ere its defenders could 
deal a blow. 

The garrison had been lured out, except the 


io8 


FELICITAS. 


tribune’s soldiers. Were the latter still in the 
capitol ? The leaders gazed anxiously at the 
tower,— the imperial standard still fluttered on 
the summit. 

But the loud, exulting shouts with which the 
Alemanni greeted the success of their bold allies 
reminded the Romans of the danger threatening 
them from these nearer foes. 

Severus ordered a double front to be formed ; 
about a hundred men, under Cornelius, were to 
hold the Alemanni in check, while he himself, 
with the larger number of the disheartened citi- 
zens, would return to the bridge, whose garrison 
had just been attacked from the undefended east- 
ern side. 

Just at that moment he again heard the 
crash of Haduwalt’s bull’s-horn. Severus turned. 
'‘Yield!” shouted the prince. “You are lost” 

“ Never 1” cried Cornelius, hurling his spear at 
the foe dashing towards him. 

Liuthari turned the weapon aside with his 
shield ; the next moment Cornelius fell backward 
pierced to the heart, through shield and armor, 
by the lance the German had levelled as he dashed 
forward at full speed. 


FELICITAS. 


109 


I will avenge you !” cried Severus, turning 
upon the prince. But at the same moment 
shrieks of agony again greeted him from the 
east 

The enemy had overpowered the garrison at 
the bridge; already many of the swimmers, horse- 
men and foot-soldiers together, had reached Se- 
verus’ troop. Nimble youths, their yellow hair 
streaming back in the wind from their uncovered 
heads, ran, clinging to the horses’ manes, at the 
same speed as the riders. The citizens of Juvavum, 
assailed by horse and foot at the same moment, 
and knowing that their city and their relatives 
were in the victors’ power, threw down their 
weapons and scattered in every direction. 

At the same moment the Alemanni rode down 
from the west upon the hundred men commanded 
by Cornelius. 

Severus stood alone ; the spear fell from his 
hand. 

The leader of the foe which had surprised 
them from the east approached. He was a man 
about forty years old, and, seated on his steed, 
had dashed upon the bridge far in advance of his 
men; the horse had been killed there, and he 


1 10 


FELICITAS. 


now advanced on foot, a gigantic figure with the 
golden eagle’s huge pinions sweeping down from 
his helm ; his red hair, combed upward, fell in a 
long tress from beneath his helmet ; an enormous 
bear-skin fluttered around his shoulders. The 
mighty warrior, raising his stone battle-axe 
theateningly, cried in the Latin tongue : ** Throw 

down your sword, old man, and live !” 

“Throw this sword away?” replied Severus in 
a hollow tone. “I will die first.” 

“Then die!” shouted the other, hurling his 
stone axe. 

Severus fell ; his armor, cleft in twain, fell from 
his body in two fragments. 

He supported himself with difficulty on his 
left arm ; he had not dropped the sword of 
victory. 

The conqueror, raising his stone axe, bent 
over him. 

“Tell me before I die,” said Severus faintly, 
“ into whose hands has Juvavum fallen ? Of what 
race are you? Do you belong to the Alemanni ?” 

“ No, Roman, the Alemanni only summoned 
us. We do not come from the west; we are from 
the east of the Danube. We have captured all 


FELICITAS. 


1 1 1 

the Roman cities from Carnuntum hither ; the last 
legion on this side of the Alps we slaughtered at 
Vindobona. We. shall divide the country with 
our cousins, the Alemanni ; the Licus will be the 
boundary. Look : our people are already pour- 
ing into the land from the eastern mountains — 
women and children, flocks and wagons. That is 
the flrst division, the main body will come to- 
morrow.” 

And your name ?” 

*‘We were formerly called Marcomanni; but 
now they name us: the men of Bajuhemum, the 
Bajuvarii ^ — all this land, as far as can be seen 
looking northward from the Alps, will be ours 
forever. Submit to it, graybeard. You still 
have. ...” 

** This sword,” said Severus, thrusting the Em- 
peror Prpbus’ sword of victory to the hilt in his 
heart. 

The giant drew it out — a stream of blood 
followed. 

A pity !” said the Bajuvarian. He is dead. 
And it would be a pity,” he continued slowly 
examining the sword, “ if this good blade should 
be lost. Come, stout weapon, henceforth serve 


1 12 


FELICITAS. 


the new lord of the country. — But now I must 
thank Liuthari. Everything agreed admirably. 
Ay, these Alemanni ! They, are almost more 
clever than we. Ho, Sigo ! Heilo ! ” he shouted, 
raising his hollowed hands to his mouth. — “Liu- 
thari, dear friend, where are you ? It is Gari- 
brand, the Bajuvarian duke, who calls! Ho, Sigo! 
Heiloho ! Now let us divide land and booty !” 

Liuthari dashed up, and clasped the duke’s 
hand : “ Welcome to your new home ! Welcome 
in victory !” he cried joyously. 

Just at that moment the clash of arms and the 
roar of battle again echoed from the city. 

“The victory is not yet complete,” said Gari- 
brand, pointing with his battle-axe to the capitol. 

The clear warlike blast of the tuba was now 
heard from the city amid the war-cries of the 
Bajuvarii. 

“ That’s the Roman commander and his iron 
band !” cried the duke. “ He has dashed down 
from the fortress into the city upon my men. 
Quick ! Bring me another horse ! To the city ! 
To my heroes’ aid !” 


CHAPTER XL 


With the exception of the two leaders, few 
Romans had met death in the brief hand-to-hand 
conflict; for the Bajuvarian duke, before the com- 
mencement of the battle, had shouted : “ Prisoners 
to-day ! no dead men ! Remember, every dead 
man is a servant lost, every prisoner one gained to 
the new lords of the country.” 

Fulvius and Crispus had been among the 
troops sent by Severus against the Bajuvarians, 

When their ranks were broken, the nephew 
called to his uncle : “ To Felicitas ! By the ford !” 
and both ran side by side as they had stood 
towards the river, directing their course to a point 
below the bridge, which was garrisoned by the 
Bajuvarians. 

But fat Crispus, though he had instantly 
thrown spear and shield aside, was speedily left 
far behind the nimble stone-cutter. 

An Alemannfc horseman, accompanied by a 
8 


FELICITAS. 


II4 

youth bounding beside him on foot, pursued the 
pair. 

Crispus was soon overtaken. 

The horseman dealt a blow Avith the shaft of 
his lance on the helm-like basin on his head, which 
was certainly well-calculated to rouse amusement; 
the kitchen utensil fell over the fugitive’s eyes and 
nose ; a stream of blood gushed from the latter. 
Crispus shrieked loudly and fell, believing himself 
killed. 

But he instantly returned to the comfortable 
assurance of life when the foot-soldier, who had 
stopped beside him, somewhat roughly pulled the 
saucepan from his head. Crispus started up, 
panting for breath ; the Alemannic warrior laughed 
in his fat, astonished face. 

Why, this Roman hero is in good condition ! 
And that nose didn’t get so red from its own 
blood, nor from water either. Friend, I’ll release 
you if you’ll tell me where the best wine in Juva- 
vum is stored. It seems to me, you are the man 
to certify it.” 

Crispus, thus good-naturedly accosted, rapidly 
recovered, especially as he was firmly convinc'ed 


FELICITAS. 


II5 

that he was neither dead nor would be compelled 
to die for his native land. 

Drawing a long breath, he held up his hand as 
if to take an oath, saying : 

“ I swear as a Roman citizen — Jaffa, the good 
Jew next to the basilica, has the sweetest. He has 
not been baptized — but neither has his Falernian.” 

Excellent !” cried the Alemannic horseman. 

Come, friends!” — a troop of Alemanni and Baju- 
varii had met near him and were shaking hands with 
each other — To Jaffa, the Jew, to drink thanks to 
the god Ziu for the merry victory. You, glutton, 
shall guide us there — and if, contrary to your oath, 
the Jew’s wine is sour we’ll drown you in it.” 

This did not troublj Crispus; on the contrary 
he rejoiced in thj anticipation of swallowing 
gratis as much as he wanted of the costly, long- 
stored Cyprus wine, which he had always been 
obliged to see richer men drink. 

That this was to be done in honor of the god 
Ziu made the wine no worse. And lastly, he told 
himself -that it was always more pleasing to God 
to empty the Jew’s wine-skins than a Christian’s. 

He felt no anxiety about his house. 

^‘They’ll do my old Ancilla no harm — her 


FELICITAS. 


1 16 

wrinkles will protect her better than many shields. 
The little money I have is buried. They won’t 
carry off the plaster statues, only with great de- 
light and regularity in the occupation, knock off 
their noses; — it will do no harm, they can be 
stuck on again.” 

But he felt troubled about Fulvius, Felicitas ! 

He gazed around in search of the fugitive, but 
neither saw him lying dead, nor brought in as a 
prisoner; the earth seemed to have swallowed 
him up ; for the horseman who had pursued him 
was urging his steed in another direction after the 
flying Romans. 

Crispus therefore hoped that the young hus- 
band had escaped ; but he could not aid Felicitas ; 
for his conqueror grasped him firmly by the shoul- 
der and pushed him towards the bridge. 

“ Forward ! You don’t suspect, Roman, what 
a burning thirst the Alemanni have. Next the 
basilica, you say? That’s right. We shall find 
gold and silver vessels there for the drink into the 
bargain.” 

And before the noisy, laughing, shouting 
throng, fat Crispus, a reluctant reveller, stalked 
along as fast as his short legs would carry him 


FELICITAS. 


II7 

through the gate out of which he had marched 
a short time before as a proud, helmeted legionary. 
He had left the basin where it fell ; the mere recol- 
lection of it made his nose ache. 


Meantime Fulvius had really disappeared. 

He had not flung spear and shield aside like his 
corpulent companion; he was young, strong, and far 
from cowardly, and remembered the promise he 
had given the brave Severus at the time of his 
liberation. He had now reached the river, and 
was standing close by the marshy ground on its 
shore. 

When he heard the hoof-beats of the gallop- 
ing steed sounding nearer and nearer, he resolutely 
turned, looked fiercely into his enemy’s eye, raised 
his spear, took a sure aim, and hurled it with all 
the strength of his arm at the Alemannic trooper’s 
face. 

“ Well aimed !” cried the latter, who dropped 
his bridle and caught the whizzing lance with his 
left hand. 

The shield Fulvius still held would now have 


i8 


FELICITAS. 


availed him little ; for the rider, dashing for- 
ward, aimed with both spears, his own and the 
captured one, at the Roman’s head and body. But 
ere the deadly lances flew, their mark suddenly 
vanished. 

Involuntarily stepping back to escape the 
snorting horse which must have trampled him 
down the next instant, Fulvius lost his balance, 
slipped on the smooth grass, and fell into the river, 
whose waves, splashing high, closed over him. 

The Alemannic trooper, bending from his horse, 
laughingly watched him as he was borne away. 

“ Greet the Danube for me, when you have 
swum there !” he cried, and turning his steed dashed 
across the fields. 


CHAPTER XIT. 


In the city meanwhile Zeno, running rapidly, 
had reached the corner of the narrow street 

Hearing loud shouts behind him, he looked 
back and beheld crackling flames bursting from 
the roof of a neighboring house which belonged 
to the judge, his brother-in-law. Filled with 
fresh terror, he hurried on. 

He stopped shortly before the door of the 
priest’s little house. 

It stood wide open. 

He sprang over the threshold and darted down 
the narrow, dusky passage ; no ostiarius, no sub- 
deacon appeared. He entered the room where 
we have already sought the priest 

It was deserted. 

The door leading into the adjoining basilica 
was ajar. 

The fugitive hastily entered and rushed 
through the wide dimly-lighted church to the 


120 


FELICITAS. 


altar, standing between the apse and nave, which 
afforded the most sacred asylum of the church. 

Here, stretched motionless on the altar steps, 
lay Johannes, face downward, clasping in both 
arms the shrine of relics of the altar. 

Fresh horror seized the cruel Byzantine in his 
mortal fright. 

Was the priest murdered ? He who perhaps 
might still have protected him. 

• “ Woe betide me !” he groaned. 

His terror increased when the supposed corpse 
slowly rose and silently turned his pallid, venera- 
ble face towards him. “ What, do the dead rise 
again ?” shrieked Zeno, starting back. 

“ Why did you believe me dead ? asked Jo- 
hannes, fixing his piercing gaze upon the usurer’s 
agitated face and seemingly reading his inmost 
soul. 

“Not I — not I! — But the tribune wanted — ” 

“ I understand ! — What do you seek here ?” 

“ Rescue ! Rescue !” moaned the money- 
changer, who again thought only of the danger 
closely pursuing him. “ My slaves ! All the slaves 
have rebelled. The judge’s house is burning.” 

Just at that moment a bright glare of fire 


FELICITAS. 


I2I 


streamed through the open windows of the basi- 
lica, and weapons clashed in the distance. 

Do you hear ? They are seeking me ! 
They’re coming ! Save me ! Cover me with your 
own body. Here is all this gold,” — he threw the 
heavy bag upon the altar ; it burst and gold coins 
fell ringing down the steps upon the floor. 

“ Woe betide me — it faithles.sly runs away 
from me! All this money — or half! no: all, I’ll 
give you all — no ; not to you^ I know you will 
devote it to Saint Peter, your church, the poor. 
Only save me !” 

And, carefully hiding the little bag of gems in 
his breast, he threw himself at the priest’s feet. 

Johannes raised him: “I will save you — for 
Christ’s sake, not for gold.” 

“ Will you stay with me ?” cried the usurer, 
inspired with fresh hope. 

That I cannot do. My place at this hour is 
on the battle-field, caring for the wounded. I 
have already sent my Brothers there, and was 
only seeking more strength in a last prayer.” 

“ No, no, I will not let you go !” shrieked the 
Byzantine, clinging to him. 

But Johannes, with unexpected strength, shook 


122 


FELICITAS. 


him off: “ I must, I tell you. The Lord summons 
me. Perhaps I can even stay the slaughter. But 
you — your cruelty has so enraged these unfortu- 
nate slaves that some of them would heed neither 
the sacredness of the altar nor my entreaties — ” 

“Yes, yes!” assented Zeno. 

He was thinking of Keix — the bull that had 
gone mad. 

“You shall be concealed — where none save 
God can find you. Look here!” 

While speaking, he stooped and lifted one of 
the marble slabs in the floor beside the altar, — a 
short ladder, leading to a dark but tolerably spa- 
cious cellar appeared. 

“ Go down there ! No one knows of the exis- 
tence of this old vault except myself. Wait till I 
call you out ; I will come as soon as the danger 
to you is over.” 

“ But when — and if — ” 

“You mean, if I should die? See, the stone is 
raised from beneath — so. Hasten!” 

“ I have a horror — of being buried alive ! — 
Are there dead men’s bones — skeletons, pardon 
me — are there relics in the vault?” 

“ Henceforth fear the living God, not dead 


FELICITAS. 


23 


men ! Here — take the oil lamp. And now go 
down. Do you hear ? The cries sound nearer.” 

Zeno, lamp in hand, leaped down. 

Johannes seized the bag of money and flung it 
after him ; — even amid his mortal terror, the miser 
noticed that the priest had first taken out a hand- 
ful of solidi. The latter lowered the stone over 
Zeno, and then scattered the gold coins he had 
kept from the main door of the basilica, which he 
bolted inside, to the altar, and from thence to and 
over the threshold of the side door leading from 
the church to his own house. Then he hurried 
through this side door into the house and out to 
the street. 

After a few moments Zeno, with throbbing 
heart, heard the blows of an axe thunder furiously 
upon the main door of the basilica. 

It yielded ; a throng of people, judging by the 
noise of voices and footsteps, crowded in. Zeno 
held his breath in terror, and pressed his ear 
against the slab to hear more distinctly. 

He first heard a woman’s tones. 

“ Don’t kill him in the church ! Not in the 
asylum of the saints. He flogged me almost to 


124 


FELICITAS. 


death and killed my child — but not in the 
church. Honor the house of the eternal God!” 

“ Rather in God’s house than the pious Jo- 
hannes’ I” said another voice. 

“ Only the altar, not the whole church, affords 
sanctuary I” shrieked a third. 

Then Zeno heard the terrible Keix cry : 

I would slay him before the feet of the Lord 
of Heaven. He killed my old father who had im- 
plored me to spare the monster, and, when no en- 
treaties availed, stole from my side. I did not find 
him till we burst open the usurer’s door — his dag- 
ger was sticking in my father’s throat I I would 
fain murder him seven times.” 

“ Once will be enough,” said Kottys laughing, 
** if he is killed as slowly as we murdered my 
master. We burned Mucius the judge alive in the 
flames of his own house.” 

“ Stop I Look here. Brother Kottys — this is 
the fugitive’s trail. The wounded hyena sweats 
blood ; the flying miser sweats gold. Look here — 
here — it begins at the main entrance — he came 
in there — bolted the door behind him, ran past 
the altar, and yonder — through that door into the 
priest’s house. He’s hiding there. After, him !” 


FELICITAS. 


125 


“ After him ! Down with him !” roared the 
whole throng, running with echoing steps across 
the slab over Zeno’s head into the adjoining 
house. 

Zeno, almost senseless with terror, had crept 
into the farthest corner, where he cowered a long 
time, — drops of cold perspiration were trickling 
down his brow. 

But all remained still — the last sounds died 
away ; the pursuers, after searching the priest’s 
house, had gone into the street. 

“The tribune must soon notice the fire, the 
uproar in the city,” he said to himself “ He has 
already repeatedly quelled such insurrections. In 
a few hours he and his lances will restore or- 
der.” Calmness, nay a certain degree of courage, 
slowly returned to the money-changer. 

He now, by the light of the oil-lamp, examined 
the cellar-like vault, and saw a chest. 

A strange feeling of curiosity, mingled with 
horror, irresistibly urged him to open it; did the 
crafty old priest conceal the treasures of his church 
here ? 

He raised the lid. The chest contained nothing 
but papyrus rolls and parchments. Spread over 


126 


FELICITAS. 


them was a priest’s white robe and cowl, exactly 
like those Johannes wore. 

A thought darted through the fugitive’s mind. 

He hastily threw the ample robe over his own 
clothing : “ I cannot remain here much longer. 
And this dress will conceal me most effectually — 
better than a coat of mail.” 

After some time, as everything remained still, 
the gloomy atmosphere of the vault became un- 
endurable ; he cautiously raised the slab half-way, 
mounted to the upper step of the ladder, and gazed 
around the empty church. 

His eye fell on the glittering gold coins spark- 
ling in the light of the altar-lamp. 

The pursuers had picked up some, but not 
nearly all ; they thirsted more for blood than for gold. 

The miser had long repented that he had 
promised the priest so much. 

“Besides, he disdained it — so I am no longer 
bound. And these scattered pieces of money — 
it would be a pity if they should fall into the 
hands of those rascals.” 

He now raised the slab entirely — and again 
listened anxiously. 

All was still. 


FELICITAS. 


127 


Cautiously placing the bag of money and purse 
of gems in the chest, he closed the lid, climbed 
nimbly out, and picked up the solidi. 

First those lying nearest, then the ones on the 
altar, — then he saw on the right of the altar a 
whole heap lying together just as they had fallen 
from the broken bag. 

He now moved away from the left of the altar 
towards the right, stooped — and, horrible ! he 
heard footsteps approaching from the priest’s 
house ; true it was only one man — but he was not 
Johannes. The steps had an iron ring. 

He tried to rush back to his hiding-place, but 
ere he could pass around the altar, a black shadow 
stood in the dusky entrance of the corridor. 

Zeno could no longer leap into the vault un- 
perceived. His knees tottered, so drawing the 
cowl hastily over his head from behind, he threw 
himself face downward upon the altar clasping the 
shrine containing the relics with both arms in the 
same position in which he had found Johannes. 

The next moment cold steel struck the ver- 
tebra, between the neck and spine. 

Zeno was lifeless ere he heard the words : 
*^Die, Priest!” 


128 


CHAPTER XIII. 

But the form no longer seemed to the mur- 
derer exactly like the presbyter’s tall figure ; he 
stooped till the crest of black horse-hair on his 
lofty helm fell forward, and bent back both the 
cowl .and the head of the murdered man. 

Leo, with a low cry, let it fall again. “ Stupid- 
ity of chance ! The usurer ! How came he here ? 
How did he get this disguise ? Where is the 
priest ?” 

But ere the tribune could ponder over these 
questions, his attention was diverted towards the 
broken main portal by an uproar of the most sur- 
prising nature. 

Leo had left his troopers drawn up in the Fo- 
rum of Hercules, with orders to await his return 
there, and springing from his horse gave it to the 
charge of one of the soldiers, intending to reach 
the priest’s house on foot by a circuitous way 
through narrow alleys. 

When half way there, to his great surprise he 


FELICITAS. 


29 


saw flames rising, and heard in the distance the 
noise made by the rebellious slaves. He stood 
still. 

A fleeing woman, with veiled head, rushed 
towards him ; he stepped before her. 

“ Is it you. Tribune !” cried the fugitive. 

“ What ? You, Zoe ! The judge’s wife ! What 
has happened ?” 

. “ The slaves ! Our house is burning ! Save, 
help me !” 

“Go down there. My soldiers are in the 
Forum of Hercules ! I’ll be back there myself 
directly. Then I will aid you.” 

He had hastened to the priest’s empty house, 
dashed through it with drawn sword, reached the 
basilica, and there instead of the man he sought, 
killed his ally. 

But scarcely had Leo discovered this — when 
from the direction of the portal he heard the blare 
of his troopers’ cornets and trumpets sounding the 
signal for attack. 

“They are fighting the insurgents,” thought 
the tribune, hastening towards the door. “ Ras- 
cally slaves ! While the Barbarians are outside the 
gates !” 


9 


130 


FELICITAS. 


But he suddenly paused on the threshold ; a 
totally different sound — not the furious yells of 
the maddened slaves, no — the familiar call of the 
sentinel, the battle-cry, the shout of victory of the 
Germans fell close at hand upon his startled ear. 

Germans in the city ? Incredible. 

But cautiously approaching the threshold of 
the basilica, he already saw groups, dozens, in all 
probably more than a hundred German foot-sol- 
diers — not the few horsemen so long watched — 
surging around the corner of the great square, 
close to the church. 

Fight his way through them ? Impossible ! 
Back ! Through the priest’s house ! 

He darted through the nave of the basilica 
past the stone slab, which was still raised, into 
Johannes’ house. 

There also from the door and narrow alley the 
gay laughter and shouts of the Barbarians greeted 
him ; he saw a throng of Germans headed by a 
stout Roman, whom they had loaded heavily with 
wine-skins, coming towards him. 

Turning back into the basilica as fast as his 
heavy weapons permitted, he sprang — this seemed 
the only possible hope of escape — into the open 


FELICITAS. 


I31 

vault, pulled the stone slab down, and instantly 
heard whole bands of Germans press into the 
church through both doors. 

Over the head of the imprisoned commandant 
of Juvavum the victors exchanged loud, exultant 
greetings. 


9 


32 


CHAPTER XIV. 

We prefer to join the carousing Germans above, 
rather than the wrathful, but helpless soldier below 
the marble slab. 

‘‘Welcome in victory, brave Bajuvarians !” 

“Which we owe to you, wise Alemanni.” 

“ Ay, didn’t we lure them out well ?” said his 
companion-in-arms. 

“First, we — that is, Liuthari, our famous 
king’s famous son, and two of his followers — sur- 
prised a post garrisoned by five Mauritanian 
troopers whom the tribune had sent out from the 
capitol on a reconnoitering expedition against us. 
But we know the woods better than those brown- 
skinned Africans. Four were dead or captured 
before they were aware of it. One escaped — 
unluckily ! But it seems he was not able to tell 
much. Then a little band of us glided noiselessly 
through the river — an Alemannic horse must 
swim like a swan — and dashed into the eastern 
forest to meet you Bajuvarians, that the heron’s cry 


FELICITAS. 


133 


and the eagle’s scream might cross at the same 
time.” 

“And this time you too, contrary to your 
nature and custom, you slow-moving folk, really 
were there at the right moment,” jested Suomar, 
another of the Alemanni. 

The Bajuvarian fiercely gripped the battle-axe 
in his belt : 

“What do you mean by that, you Suavian 
blockhead ? I think we have almost always come 
soon enough to fight you — you, as well as all the 
rest who waited long enough. You men of 
nimble thoughts and rapid words often found your 
legs were not agile enough when you fled before 
us, who are so slow of speech.” 

The man so harshly addressed was about to 
make an angry reply, but the first Alemannic 
warrior, Vestralp, soothingly interposed : “ Let it 
pass, both of you ; you, my Suomar, and you, 
brave Marcomanni ! When the Bajuvarians once 
arrive, they fight so magnificently that they make 
up for the hours they have lingered.” 

“They have -often showed that !” cried Rando, 
a third Alemannic warrior. 

“ Last of all just now,” continued Suomar — 


134 


FELICITAS. 


/^on the market-place and the steep path up to 
the citadel — against the tribune’s troopers.” 

“ Hark ! What was that ?” 

“Yes! Didn’t a groan sound from the earth ?’^ 

“There ! On the left beside the altar.” 

“ Look ! Behind the altar ? Perhaps it’s some 
wounded man ?” 

Several warriors rushed to the spot and looked 
behind the altar — but found nothing. 

“ But what’s that lying on the steps in front ?’^ 

“A dead man.” 

“A Roman.” 

“A priest, apparently.” 

“ Probably the work of the rebellious slaves 
who joined us when we scaled the walls,” said 
Helmbert, an aged leader of the Bajuvarians. 
“They are now the guides to the richest booty.” 

“ Remove the body I The stone steps there 
will be the best place to sit and drink,” cried his 
son Helmdag. 

“ Do not dare, blasphemer I That is the table 
of the Most High,” exclaimed Rando threateningly. 

“So you are a Catholic, an accursed Catholic!” 
shouted Helmdag. “This is a Romish church, 


FELICITAS. 


35 


the greatest of all abominations. So my Gothic 
godfather, the bishop of Novi, taught me.” 

“ Miserable Arian, Christ-denying son of Sa- 
tan,” cried Rando, “ Til teach you to render the 
same honor to the Lord Christ as to the Father, 
or ril fill your mouth with my fist. Ay, and with 
your own teeth by way of sauce.” 

“ With us the son is always second to the 
father,” muttered Helmdag. 

“Keep the peace, both of you„” said Vestralp, 
“and fill your mouths with Roman wine! Bring 
the skin here, Crispus, my Roman hero 1 Don’t 
untie it 1 A sword-stroke will do the business ! 
There 1 It spurts out like red blood from wounds. 
Now fetch helmets and hollow shields, till the last 
drop of noble Roman blood is drained from the 
goat-skin. As to the quarrel about the few stone 
steps yonder — believe me, a true man honors 
everything that is sacred to another; so we will 
all keep away from them.” 

“ But the gold and silver on the walls, pillars, 
and stone chests ?” said Helmdag, the Arian. 

“ Must it be left for the pillaging slaves ?” said 
Rando, the Catholic. 


13 ^ 


FELICITAS. 


^'No,” cried the enlightened Pagan who had 
just counselled peace, — it was Vestralp, Crispus’ 
helmed conqueror, — “that would be a pity! We’ll 
divide the booty among us — for the god Ziu, the 
Roman Catholic bishop, and those who revere 
Arius.” 

Holding their iron casques or leather-lined fur 
hoods, filled with ruddy wine, in the left hand and 
a battle-axe in the right, they instantly set to 
work. Gaily drinking the while to the success of 
the task, they broke from the sarcophagi, the 
shrines, and even from the pillars, all their valuable 
ornaments of metal, gems, and glittering stones, 
not even sparing any bright-hued decorations that 
were pleasing to the eye. 

Garizo, a tall, slender young Bajuvarian, bow- 
ing courteously, lifted over the head of a statue 
of Saint Anna a necklace of heavy gold and sap- 
phires. — “ By your leave, holy goddess or nymph, 
or whatever you may be. You are only lifeless 
stone and very ugly; your bosom is yellow; my 
betrothed bride, Albrun, is alive, and young, and 
wondrously beautiful ; the blue stones would 
sparkle very charmingly on her white neck.” 

“Yes, but where are your women and children, 


FELICITAS. 


137 


and the other defenceless people ?” Vestralp asked 
the busy lover. 

“They will come to-morrow; down the 
eastern mountains,” replied Garizo. “ For 
we have at last discovered, ‘slow-moving’ — as 
your swift-spoken countryman just called us — 
though we may be, that it is better to send the 
men forward to battle alone, and let the defence- 
less folk follow when the victory and country are 
won.” 

“ There must be some truth in the nickname 
‘slow-moving,’ since it vexes you so,” said 
Vestralp laughing. “If any one called you 
cowardly, — you would only laugh and knock him 
down. You are strange people ! No other race 
is so quiet, yet at the same time so terrible in 
anger.” 

“ ril tell you, Suavian,” said the white-bearded 
Helmbert thoughtfully : “ We are like the moun- 
tains, which stand firm, no matter what is going on 
around them. But if it grows too bad, they de- 
fend themselves with stones and fire.” 

“ Yet this time you showed that you can be 
very cunning too,” cried Suomar. “With what 
crafty care you guarded against the enemy’s getting 


138 


FELICITAS. 


news of your approach ! You watched all the 
roads, and even the paths through the marshes 
and those made on the cliffs by the chamois-hun- 
ters, that no tidings should reach Juvavum.” 

“ But, in order not to rouse the Romans’ sus- 
picions by the total absence of news,” added 
Helmbert, “we sent our own Roman colonists, 
disguised as peasants and tradesmen, to buy and 
sell in the city, as if they were people from Ovilaba 
and Laureacum.” 

“ And suppose they had revealed all ?” asked 
Suomar. 

“Then the relatives they left behind would 
have been put to death. This was told them 
plainly enough. But the common people like us 
better than they do their Roman tormentors.” 

“ The citizens soon gave up resistance, too — 
they will yield to the new government when they 
see we don’t devour them,” said Helmdag laugh- 
ing. 

“Yes — only the tribune’s soldiers, horse 
and foot, fought bravely and desperately,” said 
Rando. 

“Tell us about it,” said Vestralp; “we, who 
were fighting on the other side of the river, do 


FELICITAS. 


39 


not yet know what passed within the walls or how 
the citadel fell so quickly.” 

“ It happened strangely enough, by the sword 
of Ziu,” Rando began. — “ Yonder, on the great 
square, where stands the Christian saint with the 
club and lion’s skin. . . .” 

“ A fine saint ! That’s a Pagan god.” 

No, a demi-god.” 

“ It’s all the same to me,” continued Rando, 
“ whether saint, god, or demi-god, he didn’t 
help the Romans. But we were taken by surprise 
when we looked into that square. After about 
twenty of us Alemanni, with our Bajuvarian al- 
lies — those mountaineers from Bajuhemum can 
climb like squirrels — had scaled the walls, we 
thought the whole matter was over. But, as we 
entered the square, the tribune’s troopers amid 
the loud blare of the tubas dashed upon us — he 
himself was nowhere to be seen ; it was reported 
that he was lying ill in the citadel, but he wasn’t 
captured there. At first there were only a few of 
us, and we had hard work to hold our ground. 
Gradually we forced them back ; they were com- 
pelled to retreat, step by step, towards the capitol. 
There the tribune’s Isaurian foot-soldiers came to 


140 


FELICITAS. 


tlieir support ; and now there was a fierce conflict 
man to man. There I again saw the Bajuvarians 
fight with the fury of Wotanus.” 

“ Say rather — the courage of the lion !” replied 
Helmdag proudly, for we bear the lion on our 
standard and have his valor in our hearts.” 

“ How do you come by the Southern beast ? 
The bear, I think, is nearer, and — more akin to 
you.” 

“ You think so, quick-witted Suavian,” said old 
Helmbert, coming to his son’s aid, because you 
know more than we, but you don’t yet know 
everything. Three hundred years ago, the Ale- 
manni’s name had never been heard, but our an- 
cestors, the Marcomanni, had long fought fiercely 
with the Roman heroes, and in those days victory 
still rested on the wings of the golden eagle. At 
that time a wise and mighty emperor, skilled in 
magic arts, lived in the Golden House of Nero 
by the Tiber. Through his sorcery he had dis- 
covered that if he made two lions swim across 
the Danube, the bravest nation on earth would 
conquer in the impending battle. But our fore- 
fathers, the Marcomanni, said, ‘ What kind of yel- 
low dogs are these ?’ killed the lions with clubs, 


FELICITAS. 


I4I 

and then slew the emperor’s army and generals — 
twenty thousand Romans lay dead on their shields. 
So the wise emperor in Rome knew what nation 
was the bravest on earth. Ever since then we have 
borne two lions on our standard. So our bards 
sing and say. Now go on, Suavian !” 

“I will — to your honor! The Bajuvarians 
sprung like cats — or, if you prefer, Helmdag, like 
lions — on the necks of the Moors’ horses, and al- 
lowed themselves to be dragged along rather than 
release them. ‘ Give the devil his due,’ is a pro- 
verb I once heard among the Anglo-Saxons, — the 
Moors and Isaurians fought desperately, man by 
man, covering the steep path which allowed room 
for only two horses abreast. At last the duke, 
bringing fresh men, came from outside the walls 
to our assistance ; and, making a sudden assault 
with lowered spears, we forced our way between 
the horses, scattering the whole throng. The short 
knives of the Bajuvarians did terrible execution in 
the close conflict; running under the Isaurians’ 
long lances they sprang upon the Moorish 
troopers’ saddles, thrusting the blades of their 
daggers into the faces and throats of the' mailed 
warriors, whose armor rendered every other por- 


142 


FELICITAS. 


tion of their bodies invulnerable ; the foe, man and 
horse, fell on both sides, right and left, over the 
low parapet of the Roman wall upon the jagged 
rocks in the abyss below. Yet the battle around 
the citadel itself might have lasted a long time, 
nay, nothing save starvation would have van- 
quished those rocky walls, if the remnants of the 
enemy, who at last took to flight, had entered the 
gate. But they did not enter. A noble deed was 
performed by a Bajuvarian lad. I saw it distinctly ; 
for, outstripped by the Bajuvarians, I was not 
fighting myself, but gazing at the gate of the 
citadel, plainly visible far above me. Then I saw 
one of the two Isaurians who were on guard there 
run towards his comrades who were nearest the 
entrance; his movements showed that he was 
urging them to fly into the citadel ere the Bar- 
barians could crowd in with them. The other 
Isaurian was standing on the threshold, holding 
the iron bolt of one wing in his hand, ready to 
close the other half of the door and push the bolt 
as soon as the fugitives had rushed in. Suddenly 
the man fell forward, face downward, as if he had 
been struck by a thunderbolt. He did not rise 
again, — directly after a fair-haired boy appeared 


FELICITAS. 


143 


on the tower above the gate, struck down the pur- 
ple imperial standard with his battle-axe, and 
planted on a tall spear a blue shield in place of the 
fallen banner. 

‘‘ ^ My Hortari,’ shouted Duke Garibrand, ‘my 
brother’s son, who was stolen many weeks ago and 
we believed dead. His shield the victorious blue 
buckler of our house, our kindred ! Forward, 
Bajuvarians ! Hew out Hortari !’ 

“ But there was nothing to hew ; neither the 
tribune nor his slaves were in the citadel, the brave 
child was the only human being inside the capitol. 
The battle before the gate speedily ended ; the 
foe, barred out from the fortress, unable to scale 
the high walls, even by leaping on each other’s 
backs, and constantly pressed upon by us, threw 
down their arms and yielded. True, some, either 
dispairing of mercy or disdaining it, preferred to 
spur their steeds from the steep path over the 
precipice. The gate of the citadel of Juvavum flew 
open, and young Hortari rushed into his uncle’s 
arms — the Bajuvarian lad has won the capitol of 
Juvavum for his people. — Hail to the lad Hortari ! 
The bards will remember his name.” 


144 


FELICITAS. 


“Hail to the lad Hortari !” echoed -loudly 
through the wide halls of the basilica. 

As the joyous shout died away, angry words 
were again heard from the rear of the building. 

Two men, excited by wine, were quarrelling 
loudly in the apse behind the altar. 

Among other Roman mementos which the 
zealous Johannes had taken from his flock to stop 
all sorts of Pagan rites practised with them, the 
two soldiers had found in a broken chest a small, 
daintily-wrought marble bas-relief, representing 
the three Graces tenderly embracing each other. 

Each had seized an end of the slab, and 
noisily shouting and scolding, pulled and dragged 
each other through the church till they were just 
in front of Vestralp and Helmbert. 

There one dropped the marble and made a 
lunge with his short knife at his foe, who instantly 
let his booty fall and snatched the axe in his 
belt. 

“ Hold ! Agilo !” cried Vestralp, seizing his 
countryman’s arm. 

“ Stab Romans, if you must stab, not Ale- 
manni !” exclaimed Helmbert, striking down his 
follower’s knife. 


FELICITAvS. 


145 


“ Very well ! You shall decide,” cried the two 
brawlers in the same breath. 

“ I saw it first,” cried the Alemannic trooper. 
“ I was going to hang it on my favorite steed for a 
breast- plate.” 

“ But I seized it first,” retorted the Bajuvarian: 
“ These are the three sisters who spin the threads 
of fate. I’ll hang it over the shield that serves my 
child for a cradle.” 

“ The dispute is easily settled,” said Vestralp, 
and lifting the three Graces from the ground he 
took the axe from the Alemannic soldier’s hand 
and, with sure aim, split the bas-relief exactly 
through the middle. 

But Helmbert seized the two pieces, saying: 

Not Wotanus’ son, Forasitzo himself, who pro- 
nounces sentence in Heligoland, could divide more 
exactly, — each of you has a goddess and a half 
Now go and drink to a reconciliation.” 

“We thank you kindly,” said the delighted 
disputants, again in one breath. 

“ But there is no more wine,” lamented the 
Alemannic soldier. 

“ Or I would have drunk it long ago,” sighed 
the Bajuvarian. 

10 


146 


FELICITAS. 


“ Ho, Crispus, son of Mars and Bellona! where 
can we get more wine ?” 

Crispus dragged himself forward, panting vio- 
lently : “ Oh, my lord ! It’s incredible ! But they 
have really drunk it all. The prudent Jaffa,” he 
whispered, probably has a little skin of the very 
best wine of all; but it shall be kept solely for you, 
because you spared my life.” Then he continued 
aloud : “ Here is a large clay jar full of water ; if 
it is mixed with the last dregs of wine in the 
skins, it will make a tolerably strong drink.” 

But Vestralp struck the big round mixing-jar 
with the handle of his spear, so that the water 
poured out in streams: ‘‘Let the man who min- 
gles water with his wine be forever expelled from 
the race of Alemanni !” he exclaimed. — “The 
poor Jew shall keep the special skin,” he added 
in a low tone, turning to Crispus ; “ he must drink 
it himself — after the fright.” 

Just at that moment the blast of the auroch’s- 
horn sounded outside. 

Directly after the shattered main door of the 
church was torn open; a gigantic Bajuvarian 
stood on the threshold, shouting loudly : “ There 
you sit carousing in blissful idleness, as if all the 


FELICITAS. 


147 


work was ended; yet fighting has broken out anew 
in the streets. The Romans' slaves are burning 
and pillaging, while the city is still ours f Protect 
your Juvavum, Bajuvarians! So Duke Garibrand 
commands.” 

All the Germans instantly seized their weap- 
ons, and shouting loudly, “ Protect the Bajuva- 
rians' Juvavum,” rushed out of the church. 


Long after the last footstep had died away, the 
marble slab was cautiously raised and the tribune 
came out of the vault ; the brave leader who took 
such delight in war had endured the bitterest 
tortures of humiliation during these long hours. 

Though he was no Roman and recognized no 
duty — it wounded his honor as a soldier that, 
blindly obeying his passions, pursuing his own 
aims, he had made the victory so much easier for 
the Barbarians. 

His glance was sullen, he bit his lips : My 
troopers! The capitol I Juvavum! Vengeance on 
the priest ! Victory ! All lost ! Except — Felicitas ! 

10 * 


148 


FELICITAS. 


Her I will seize — and bear away with me, away 
across the Alps ! — Where can my Pluto be ?” 

Leo passed through the priest’s house into the 
narrow alley, carefully seeking the shade of the 
houses. Twilight was closing in — so long had 
the revellers’ drinking-bout over his head lasted. 
Stealing along like some slinking beast of prey, 
stooping at every corner and reaching the other 
side of the cross-street at a bound, he avoided the 
large open square and the broader, more populous 
streets. Then he heard in the distance the loud 
roar of voices ; he looked back ; flames were 
mounting into the smoke-darkened sky. 

The tribune was hurrying to the northern 
wall ; he could not hope, even from German care- 
lessness, to find the Porta Vindelica unlocked ; 
but he knew the secret of opening without a key 
a sally-port that gave egress upon the military road 
to Vindelicia. This little gate he was now hur- 
riedly striving to reach. 

Unchallenged, unseen, he scaled the wall, 
avoiding the flight of steps, opened the gate, 
carefully locked it again, slid down the steep talus 
and reached the moat, which, formerly filled with 
water — the machinery for supplying it had gone 


FELICITAS. 


149 


to ruin — had now been dry for decades. Weeds 
and tall bushes, above the height of a man, grew 
luxuriantly in it. 

Scarcely had Leo reached the bottom of the 
moat when a loud neigh from a copse of willows 
greeted him; his faithful steed, tossing its head, 
trotted towards him. 

Two other horses answered from the under- 
brush, and directly after two men, crouching 
almost flat upon the ground, crawled on all fours 
out of the thicket, — it was Himilko the centurion, 
and another Moor. 

They silently beckoned the tribune to follow 
them into their hiding-place. 

Flying from the Bajuvarians, after the dis- 
persal of their band, they had reached the moat ; 
Pluto, whose guardian fell, had followed the other 
two horses. 

Meantime they had concealed themselves in 
the most densely overgrown part. 

‘‘ The first ray of good-luck on this black day,” 
said the tribune. “ We’ll fly together ! Come ! 
Yonder on the left, the moat almost touches the 
river. The horses can easily reach it — then swim 
across. I must go to the Hill of Mercury — down 


FELICITAS. 


150 

the Vindelican road. Then — over the moun- 
tains!” 

“Wait until night, my lord,” said Himilko 
beseechingly. “ Already we have twice made 
the attempt to escape in that way — both times 
the Alemannic horsemen, who are incessantly rov- 
ing outside the gates to catch fugitives, discovered 
us ; both times we barely escaped again to this 
retreat. Only under cover of the darkness can 
the venture be risked.” 

The tribune was reluctantly compelled to re- 
cognize the good-sense of this advice ; besides, he 
told himself that it would be easier to abduct Feli- 
citas at night, and therefore resolved, impatiently 
enough, to remain in concealment until darkness 
had entirely closed in. 


51 


CHAPTER XV. 

Meantime far behind the concealed fugitive, 
a noisy conflict was raging in the south-eastern 
quarter of the city. 

Here the fiercest of the insurgent slaves — 
many, after having wreaked their vengeance on 
their masters, threw down their arms — had been 
restrained by the Bajuvarians from farther deeds 
of murder, incendiarism, and pillage, and, where 
they resisted, crowded together in a last attempt 
at defence, they were driven by force from street 
to street. 

Here were located the large imperial works 
for building boats and rafts for traffic — especi- 
ally that of the salt trade — on the Ivarus; 
huge magazines of thoroughly-dried wood, sail- 
cloth, pitch, and tar : the furious mob intended to 
set these favorites of the fire- god in flames ; in 
their blind rage for destruction they hoped that 
from thence the conflagration unchecked would 


152 


FELICITAS. 


spread its black and scarlet wings over the whole 
city. 

But the flat roofs of the store-houses were 
covered with slates and protected by high stone 
walls supplied with strong oak doors; true, the 
few guards had long since fled, but even when 
undefended, the stone and iron-bound wood long 
offered resistance to the frantic throng. 

But Keix, the leader of the mob, now came 
rushing from Amphitrite’s Bath, waving in each 
hand a pitch-torch burning blue and green, such 
as were used at illuminations of the great pool in 
these luxurious gardens. 

“Aha!” he shouted. “Now look! We shall 
have the finest fireworks to-day. The Christian 
emperors forbade the Saturnalia, but we’ll intro- 
duce them again — this time in honor of Vulcan 
and Chaos !” 

And he thrust both torches against the oak- 
planks of the main door which instantly began to 
smoulder. 

But the pursuing Bajuvarians had now reached 
the spot too. 

After a short, fierce struggle with the defen- 
ders, they had torn down the barricades, piled to 


FELICITAS. 


153 


a height of more than six feet across the intersect- 
ing streets, and now, headed by Duke Garibrand, 
rushed forward in their line of battle, a close 
wedge. 

“ Are you there, incendiaries ? Down with 
your arms ! Put out the flames on that door in- 
stantly ; or, by Wotanus’ sword, not a man of you 
shall be left alive !” 

Kottys, for his sole answer, raised the heavy 
iron pole, a long bar snatched from his own slave- 
driver, and shouted : “ Do you suppose we only 

want to exchange masters ? We will be free ! 
Masters of ourselves ! And everything on this 
earth that reminds us of the time of our servitude 
must be destroyed. Come on. Barbarians, if ye 
long to fight with desperate men.” 

A furious struggle threatened to burst forth. 

Just at that moment a loud, commanding 
voice called : “ Hold ! Peace be with you all !” 

Johannes’ venerable form appeared between 
the combatants ; behind him were his ecclesiastical 
companions, bearing on litters, aided by citizens of 
Juvavum, wounded slaves. Moors, Isaurians, and 
Germans. 

Open the street to us ! — Let us convey these 


154 


FELICITAS. 


wounded men — they belong to all who are light- 
ing here — to my church.” 

The words and spectacle exerted a soothing, 
reconciling influence ; the Bajuvarians, at a sign 
from their duke, lowered their weapons and most 
of the slaves did the same. 

Johannes fearlessly advanced into their densest 
throngs ; all respectfully made way for him ; the 
women — many a female slave was in the crowd — 
knelt and kissed the hem of his robe. 

The priest walked directly to the gate ; which 
had just begun to take fire. 

Kottys alone tried to resist : “ Back, Priest !” 
he shouted, swinging his iron rod, and as Johannes 
calmly moved forward, it struck heavily on his 
shoulder. The old man fell, his blood flowing on 
the ground. 

“Woe betide you, brother!” cried Keix; “you 
have slain the sole protector of the poor and 
wretched, our father’s best friend.” 

And the fierce bondman knelt beside the priest, 
clasping him in his arms. 

In doing so, he was compelled to throw down 
his terrible weapon, the iron trident he had just 


FELICITAS. 


155 


wrested from the hand of a statue of Neptune on 
the fountain. 

Nearly all his companions followed his exam- 
ple. 

Kottys, too, threw down his pole, pleading: 
“ Forgive me. Father Johannes !” 

The latter rose: “You have repented — so 
God has forgiven you ! Who am I, a sinner, that 
/should pardon!” 

He now walked unimpeded to the door, over- 
turned the torches, picked up one of the broad 
shields that had been flung aside, pressed it with 
his right hand upon the tiny tongues of flame dart- 
ing from the door, raised his left towards heaven 
and said : 

“ Creature of fire I Thou, too, dost serve the 
Lord I I command thee — I order thee, evil demon 
of flame ; depart hence to hell.” 

At the same moment the fire went out. 

Johannes let the shield fall and again turned 
towards the crowd, his face beaming with the 
holy radiance of the most sincere belief 

“ A miracle I A miracle of God by the hand 
of the pious Johannes !” 

So ran the cry through the whole throng of 


156 


FELICITAS. 


slaves ; even the most defiant now threw down 
their weapons and, crossing themselves, fell upon 
their knees ; many of the Bajuvarians also made 
the sign of the cross and bowed the knee ; Keix 
and Kottys raised their hands towards Johannes, 
as if in adoration. 

Duke Garibrand approached the presbyter, 
saying : “ Well done, old man. Here is my 

hand. — But tell me,” he continued, a sly smile 
hovering around his lips — “if you fully trusted 
the magic of the words you addressed to the fire — 
why did you use the shield too ?” 

The priest drew himself up to his full height 
as he replied : “ Because we must not tempt God. 
But if the Lord wished to extinguish the fire. He 
would need neither my arm nor the shield.” 

“ Never yet, since you Christian priests first 
scribbled runes, has one of you failed to answer a 
question,” said the duke, shaking his head thought- 
fully. “Ye all — you especially — hold power over 
souls, far more than my sword wields over the 
vanquished foe ; use it always as you have now. 
Well I know the might of ye men of the cross. 
One who rules on the Danube — his name is Sev- 
erinus — is more powerful by his word than Rome 


FELICITAS. 


157 


and the Barbarians. We will make a treaty of 
friendship. I fear you. But heed this one thing ; 
I will let you pray to Christ as you choose ; but 
beware of forbidding my men to offer sacrifices as 
they please. — No, no, old man, don’t shake your 
head. I’ll bear nO' contradiction.” 

He raised his finger threateningly. 

But Johannes answered fearlessly : If it is 

the Lord’s will to call the erring ones to Himself 
by my lips, — dread of you will not close them. 
Your duchess is already won to God — in truth I 
tell you ; you and your people will not escape Him.” 

“ Rise,” he continued, turning to the slaves, ^‘I 
will plead for you to the conquerors, who are now 
the rulers of this country. I will teach them that 
ye too, created in God’s image, are their brothers, 
and your immortal souls are also redeemed by 
Christ’s sacrifice. I will teach them that whoever 
frees his slaves wins the warmest place in the 
Heavenly Father’s heart.” 

But let whosoever must remain in bondage 
know that we Germans are generous masters,” 
said the duke ; “ we do not burden and punish the 
slave according to his owner’s will or caprice, our 
bondmen are judged by their own comrades — in 


158 


FELICITAS. 


court, according to the law of the court. Hence- 
forth you will be under the protection of the 
strongest citadel of justice — of the laws and tri- 
bunals of your own peers. You will serve noble 
masters.” 


159 


CHAPTER XVL 

Soon after the slave-insurrection had been 
subdued in the manner just described, two Ger- 
mans passed through the Porta Vindelica and 
walked along the broad military road in the direc- 
tion of the Hill of Mercury. 

“ See, the stars are already shining through 
the glimmering twilight,” said one, and balancing 
his spear on his shoulder, he raised both hands 
towards heaven. “ I greet your all-seeing eyes, 
watchers' of Asgard ! — I suspect ye know,” he 
added — inaudibly to his companion — what 
happiness my heart desires. It aches — I believe 
because it is empty.” 

Then he again grasped the handle of his spear 
and walked on, his eyes gazing searchingly, yearn- 
ingly into the mist- veiled distance, and his white 
cloak fluttering in the wind. 

The young prince was very handsome, and his 
dreamy meditation lent his grave, noble features a 
winning charm. 


l60 FELICITAS. 

“ If the stars want to show me something wel- 
come/’ muttered his companion, throwing back 
his wolf-skin, “ they must speedily point out a 
tavern. I’m a long, long way from having what 
I need. My throat aches — because it’s empty, I 
believe. Vestralp and his comrades were in luck ! 
There were several Christians in his band, whom 
the Christian Baldur, probably as a reward for 
their faith, led to his temple, close beside which 
they found a whole deluge of wine and caroused 
as if they were in Donar’s halls. But I only swal- 
lowed a few drops in a deserted house where a 
meal had been served just as the Bajuvarians 
entered the city. Ay, their duke is perfectly 
right ; you are unduly strict in keeping your 
oath.” 

“ Can an oath, a duty, be too rigidly inter- 
preted, old man ? You yourself have taught me 
better than that.” 

“ Why certainly ! Though you swore to your 
father never to sleep a night in a Roman city, — 
traps surrounded with nets for noble game he calls 
them, — Juvavum, as Garibrand truly said, is now 
a Bajuvarian city.” 

“Only King Liutbert himself could permit me 


FELICITAS. 


l6l 


SO to interpret my oath. But console yourself — 
you shall yet drink as much wine as you want.” 

“ Where ?” 

“ Why, in the house where we shall lodge.” 

“ But which one ?” 

“ The very next we see, for aught I care, 
to quench your thirst. Look, yonder, on the right 
of the road, is a hill, and on it a house ; the white 
statues of the gods on the roof are gleaming 
through the foliage. ...” 

“ But on the other side, at the left of the road, 
stands another which looks larger, handsomer, 
more promising.” 

“ It’s all the same to me.” 

“Then we’ll choose the larger one on the left.” 

“But see — there’s a shooting-star! And it 
fell over the roof of the house on the right upon 
the hill. That is a sign from the gods. I like to 
obey the stars. We’ll go into the one on the 
right.” 

While speaking, he sprang from the military 
road into the foot-path that led to the stone- 
cutter’s house. 

“Perhaps, owing to your foolish strictness in 
keeping your oath, we shall come short in the 


II 


FELICITAS. 


162 

division of the booty too,” grumbled the old man, 
following him, 

“ No,” called Liuthari, “ Duke Garibrand will 
summon me to it early to-morrow morning. So 
he promised when he took leave of us at the Porta 
Vindelica. Besides, our principal gain in this vic- 
tory is not a few gold vessels or tracts of country, 
but the fact that henceforth, instead of the Romans, 
we shall have the faithful Bajuvarians for neigh- 
bors on our eastern frontier. The latter have long 
found their territory in Bajuhemum and on the 
Danube too narrow — ever since the Ostrogoths, 
under the Amalungi kings, so greatly increased 
their dominions. So they moved northward and 
westward. Agilolf, another of their dukes, one of 
Garibrand’s kinsmen, marched — at the same time 
the latter set out for Juvavum through the forest — 
against Regina Castra, the most northern point on 
the Danube, and the strongest bulwark of Roman 
power ; I wonder if he has conquered it.” 

The .tidings of victory will scarcely be de- 
layed much longer, and with this message news 
that nearly concerns you, Liuthari, will doubtless 
come also.” 

The youth flushed and silently bowed his head. 


FELICITAS. 


163 

Duke Agilolf’s daughter, Adalagardis, is the 
fairest maiden I have ever seen,” the old man 
eagerly continued. “ Her father and King Liutbert 
have long discussed wedding you to each other. 
But the haughty Bajuvarian, it seems, will notally 
himself to a royal house until his own name pos- 
sesses equal lustre. Therefore, when I went to ask 
his daughter’s hand, he sent me home with the 
message : ^ I will despatch my answer from the 

conquered Roman citadel.’ And I think it’s quite 
time for you too, my lad ! You are in the prime of 
your youth — and you have blood, not water, in 
your veins.” 

“I often think fire is blazing in them,” replied 
the handsome prince in a low tone, as if ashamed. 

“ Do you suppose I didn’t notice how you 
gazed at every Roman girl who looked at you in 
conquered Juvavum? Many a one, I think, 
wouldn’t have struggled very angrily in your 
arms.” 

“ What, old man, force ! Force against a 
woman ?” 

“Why, by Berahta and Holda ! Much force 
isn’t required. ^ And they all resist for a while, 
even betrothed brides. But these lean, black- 


II 


FELICITAS. 


164 

haired, yellow-skinned cats are not fit for my 
prince ; they would spoil the whole race. Ah, 
Adalagardis ! Well for you and for us, if she 
becomes your wife. Wotanus’ virgin shield-bear- 
ers must have looked like her, I think ! Scarcely 
a finger shorter than you, with fair hair floating 
around her, like a golden royal mantle, to her 
ankles, round, full arms as white as Alpine snow, 
eyes clear as the vernal heavens and sparkling 
with a joyous light, and an exquisitely-moulded, 
swelling bosom. ByFulla! the maiden is fairly 
overflowing with strength and beauty ! The 
true queen of the Alemanni ! Why didn’t you 
ride to her father’s house and woo her long ago?” 

“You forget — I have never seen her. Duke 
Agilolf said : ‘ I will not invite you till I hold my 
court in Regina Castra.’ Yet she may well be 
the vague, yet ardently desired, JdHss, the ideal 
I seek, — Stay ! We have reached our goal. Here is 
the entrance. But what is this ? The house seems 
inhospitable — the door- way is barricaded with 
slabs of stone.” 

“Aha!” cried the old man laughing. “We 
can’t blame the people in the liouse if they bar 
out, to the best of their ability, such guests as 


FELICITAS. 


165 

Haduwalt and his thirst. But neither can be 
easily stopped. Certainly not Hadumar’s son 
Haduwalt — far less his thirst. Down with the 
stones !” 

Already his strong hand had seized one of the 
marble slabs, piled one above another, to throw 
it inside. 

“Hold !” exclaimed Liuthari, “look — ! Some- 
thing is inscribed on the topmost stone of the 
barricade ; perhaps it’s the name of the house. 
I think I can still read it.” 

“ I couldn’t,” replied Haduwalt laughing, 
“even if the sun was shining at high noon. What 
say the letters ?” 

Liuthari, slowly and with difficulty deciphering 
letter after letter, read : 

“ Hie — habitat — Felicitas — 

Nihil — mali — intretF 

The youth, perplexed and motionless, kept 
silence for a time. His heart throbbed violently, 
the seething blood mounted to his temples. 

“ How strange !” he said to himself, “happi- 
ness dwells here ? — the happiness I seek ? And 
the shooting-star — did it guide my steps hither 
on that accotmtf 


FELICITAS. 


1 66 


“ Well, by the wonder-working Wotanus ! has 
the rune bewitched you ?” said Haduwalt. 

** Perhaps so — it may have been written for 
some beneficent, protecting spell.” 

Old Haduwalt hastily grasped the prince by 
the shoulder and tried to pull him back. 

“ Then let us yield !” he whispered anxiously. 
“Pd rather force my way through two ranks of 
Romans than one magic charm. See, you already 
seem spell-bound at the entrance. What is the 
meaning of the rune ?” 

“ How shall I interpret it to you ? Well, 
something of this sort: 

“‘The Wunschgott and Frau Salde* dwell 
here together. Let no wicked wight approach ! ’ 

“I want to see Frau Salde — who lives here.” 

And with hasty resolution Liuthari, using his 
shield and knee, pushed the central stone inward, 
so that the whole pile fell with a loud crash into 
the garden. 

The youth now hurriedly crossed the threshold: 
“This is no motto to affright; it invites and 
allures. Here dwells Happiness ! here dwells 
Good Fortune ! The god of wishes himself guides 

* Father of wishes and Mother of blessings. 


FELICITAS. 167 

me hither. Besides, we may venture to approach; 
for we are no wicked wights.” 

“Who knows whether we shall not seem so to 
the master of the house,” said the old man thought- 
fully, as, shouldering his spear, he followed his 
young friend who rushed impetuously, as if urged 
by a god, straight to the inner door of the house 
behind which — only a deep yellow curtain, waving 
in the wind, closed the opening — a dim gleam of 
light seemed to beckon to them. 

Spite of his haste, Liuthari noticed that a rose- 
bush, loosened from its support, was drooping 
helplessly on the sanded path. He carefully bent 
the branch back, saying: 

“ It would be a pity if it were trampled.” 


68 


CHAPTER XVII. 

Liuthari now sprang up the four steps at a 
single bound and pushed aside the curtain. 

But he advanced no farther, standing as if 
spell-bound, rooted to the floor, by the scene that 
presented itself 

Nay, slightly bending his knee, he drew back 
his right foot as if startled ; the spear, slipping to 
the ground, threatened to escape from the grasp 
of the right hand extended backward. 

For, floating towards the prince with the most 
graceful motion, like an alabaster Hebe descended 
from its marble pedestal, came — Felicitas. 

She held her sleeping child pressed tenderly to 
her bosom with her left arm — her wondrously 
beautiful face was even paler than usual in the ex- 
citement of the moment ; but in her right hand 
she bore a shallow silver goblet filled with ruddy 
wine. 

“ I bid ye welcome, oh ! strangers, as our 
guests, to my husband’s hearth. He is away. I 


FELICITAS. 169 

am alone in this house. Protect me and my 
child.” 

Liuthari could not speak; with throbbing heart 
and dilated eyes he gazed at the wondrous beauty 
who stood before him. 

Old Haduwalt, advancing to his side, anxiously 
noticed his young master’s expression, and said 
with deep earnestness : 

“ You may feel comforted and secure, fair 
Roman — I swear by the honor of King Liutbert 
and his son Liuthari, who stands here strangely 
silent — I will protect you as if you were my 
daughter, and he shall reverence you as if you 
were his sister. There ! Now drink what is so 
hospitably offered, Liuthari !” he cried, turning to 
the latter who still stood as if enchanted, and tak- 
ing the spear from his hand. 

The youth raised the cup to his lips, sipped 
the wine and returned it — still without averting 
his eyes from the young wife’s face. What is 
your name ?” he asked in a low tremulous voice. 

“ Felicitas.” 

Liuthari hastily advanced a step nearer, “ Hap- 
piness ! Good Fortune! — That is your name? 
That is what you are 


I/O 


FELICITAS. 


“ I don’t understand you.” 

It isn’t necessary. . . .” muttered Haduwalt 
But give me something to drink too.” 

Taking the goblet he emptied it at one 
draught. 

“ In truth,” he continued, “ the wonder-work- 

god of wishes does seem to dwell here, or 
how could you have divined our thirst and met 
us with a full goblet ?” 

“ Startled by the crash of the stone slabs, I 
saw you coming. Old Philemon, our grey-haired 
slave, piled them up. How was he^ poor, lame, 
half-blind old man, to defend me ?” 

And so you thought yourself, without a pro- 
tector, sheltered by a pile of stones ?” 

“Not I ! I know I am guarded by my Heavenly 
Father and my patron saint. But when I again 
sent the old man out through the front door to 
search for my husband — he did not want to leave 
me alone and I was obliged to repeat the order 
several times — he thought I should be in some 
degree protected if he barred the entrance which 
could be seen for a long distance.” 

“Your husband?” asked Liuthari, frowning, 


FELICITAS. 


171 


and following his hostess’ example he seated him- 
self. “ He has deserted you ? In this peril ?” 

Oh, no indeed !” replied the young wife. 
“ He went to the city yesterday evening, before 
there was any appearance of danger, and has not 
returned since. But he was alive and well a few 
hours ago. Philemon saw him from the road, 
marching armed with shield and spear, across the 
Ivarus bridge.” 

“Cheer up,” said Haduwalt good-naturedly; 
“ only a very few of your people fell in the battle.” 

“ I am sure he lives. Do you suppose I would 
be so calm if I were not ? Our good Father in 
Heaven cannot permit the best, noblest man on 
' earth to suffer undeserved harm. I firmly trust in 
God and am comforted.” 

Haduwalt, it is true, thought: “I’ve seen many 
a worthy man fall without guilt.” But he kept to 
himself the bit of wisdom learned by experience 
and answered : “ Certainly. At the worst he is 

only a prisoner. And be comforted ! Here is a 
powerful prince, who,” he continued with a signi- 
ficant glance at Liuthari, “ will surely intercede for 
and release this prisoner — as a gift for your hos- 
pitality.” 


172 


FELICITAS. 


Liuthari drew a deep breath. “ How long have 
you been married ?” 

Eleven months.” 

“Eleven months — full of happiness!” Liu- 
thari slowly said to himself 

“Yes, full of inexpressible happiness! Since 
you know that — I suppose you are wedded too.” 

“I. No! But I — I can imagine it.” 

Felicitas calmly and frankly met the admiring 
gaze that rested respectfully upon her. 

She felt that Liuthari admired her beauty, but 
this did not disturb her ; there was naught save 
purity in his look. The force of contrast made 
her involuntarily recall the unholy fire in the tri- 
bune’s dark eyes, which had so often startled her. 
But she willingly gazed at the grave, noble coun- 
tenance and deep, thoughtful grey eyes of this 
prince of the Alemanni. 

Felicitas now slowly rose. 

“ I have always been very much afraid,” she 
said with a charming smile, “of — of — well, 
of you who are called: “Barbarians.” How I 
trembled when I heard the stones fall ! I gazed 
timidly into the garden. But when I saw you 
keep so carefully in the narrow path without 


FELICITAS. 


173 


trampling on the flowers — which I had dreaded — 
nay, when the one in the white cloak lifted a rose- 
bush that had drooped on the gravel-walk, I said 
to the little son in my arms: ‘ Fear not, my dar- 
ling, they will do us no harm.’ And I fearlessly 
filled the goblet. But now, since I have looked 
into your friendly eyes, I feel so safe, because you 
are here. And I know you will bring my husband 
to me to-morrow. I am going to put the child in 
our sleeping- room.” 

She pointed to a narrow door covered by a red 
woollen curtain in the centre of the wall. “Then 
I will get what little food I have in the house.” 

“ Don’t forget the wine,” called Haduwalt. 

As she floated into the sleeping-room with a 
motion like the gentle undulation of a wave, Liu- 
thari impetuously started up. 

“Stay — oh, stay !” he hastily exclaimed tak- 
ing two steps after her. 

But Haduwalt held him firmly by the cloak. 

“ She did not hear. The gods be thanked !” 

Liuthari angrily released hjmself. “ But she 
shall hear that I. . . .” then he controlled himself, 
and struck his forehead with his right hand. 

“ Well, well, well — ivell said old Haduwalt 


174 


FELICITAS. 


slowly, making a long pause between each word. 

Is this the first time young Liuthari has seen the 
creature who suckles children at her breasts and is 
called a woman ? I am really afraid the written 
spell has entirely bewitched you ; for there was no 
magic potion in the wine — / have no unusual 
feelings. Besides, the charm began to work the 
moment you beheld that chalk-face. — What ? 
You want to follow her? Stop! — Now I am 
really sorry I have forgotten all the ill names my 
father, Hadumar, called me when he caught me 
climbing into a neighbor’s garden to get some of 
his sweet pears, which the Romans had formerly 
grafted on the wild pear trees in the Illara forest. 
He thrashed me soundly. But I’ve forgotten the 
tender words — it’s so long ago. You poacher! 
you pear-stealer ! you night and day robber ! 
you slinking fox ! you greedy gawk ! were the 
sweetest of them. — Now I could use them all. 
Why do you stand speechless, bewildered, staring 
after another man’s lawful wife ? Is this the teach- 
ing of your noble, mother. Queen Lindgardis ? Do 
you no longer remember your betrothed bride, 
Adalagardis ?” 

Old giant ! Snarling grumbler — I’ve had 


FELICITAS. 


75 


enough of your reproaches ! Quite enough ! 
Adalagardis my betrothed bride ? She is a name ! 
My father's wish ! Can I embrace, clasp, kiss a 
name ? This woman is living flesh and blood ! 
I felt the sweet warmth of her arm, as I brushed 
against it A burning thrill ran through my frame! 
She is so beautiful — so marvellously beautiful I 
Fair as an elf! No, no ; that doesn’t say all ! Not 
Valhalla’s goddesses are so fair as she. Where 
have I beheld women like her ?” he dreamily con- 
tinued. “ I think it was under warmer, brighter 
skies. Ah ! yes, now I remember distinctly. In 
the emperor’s service I sailed from Byzantium on 
a large ship through the blue Greek sea ; there, on 
an island overgrown with myrtle and laurel, stood 
the white statue of a Grecian goddess, which be- 
witched me almost as this woman has done to- 
day.” He paused and pressed his hand upon his 
throbbing heart. 

“I’ve no objection to your admiring her as you 
would a stone statue, Liuthari, though your taste 
is so astray. Mine used to be very different. 
That’s why I praised Adala — but I’ll say no more. 
This slender little creature, straight as a javelin 
and not much longer, with her thin arms — would 


176 


FELICITAS. 


be crushed the first time you boldly embraced 
her.” 

“ What does a bear know about harp-playing!” 
cried Liuthari rudely. 

“ It may be, my prince, that I know very little 
about playthings made of the white Greek stone 
to amuse boys. But this I do know — better, it 
seems, than Queen Lindgardis’ son — how to pre- 
vent yearning thoughts from following other men's 
wives. If ye had loved each other before^ and you 
now found her in another’s power while she still 
cherished your image secretly in her heart, I would 
say: ‘Use the superior strength Wotanus has 
given you.’ But now. . . . There she comes I 
Innocent, unsuspecting, confiding. She relies on 
your protection dear child — for I cannot be angry 
with her too, she is so innocent, so artless: I tell 
you, if you disturb her peace by even a look, a 
word. I’ll see that your father and mother give you 
a sorry welcome home, when you return from this 
expedition and wish to sit beside your mother’s 
honest hearth.” 

But Liuthari’s wrath was now roused also. 

“ Much I fear your gossip! Queen Lindgardis’ 
rod will no longer reach my back. What are you 


FELICITAS. 


177 


prating about, you simpleton ? I stand in this 
house as a conqueror ; everything here is mine, 
the dwelling and its mistress ; I need only speak 
my will. Her husband is dead or a captured 
bondsman ; she herself is a widow or my maid- 
servant, as soon as I call her so.” 

“ You treat your Greek goddess finely in your 
thoughts ! If you were my son, instead of my 
king’s, — out of this house you’d go very speedily 
and roughly. But as it is, — I Haduwalt, Hadu- 
mar’s heir, will take care that a prince of the 
Alemanni does not behave like a boy stealing 
honey.” 

Just at that moment Felicitas appeared, bring- 
ing in a daintily-woven basket filled with fresh 
white bread, butter, new cheese made of goat’s 
milk, and a ham bone, which she set on the table. 

Directly, directly !” she said, answering the 
silent question in Haduwalt’s thirsty eyes, and 
immediately returned carrying on her head a 
large amphora full of wine. 

Her bearing and attitude — like her every 
movement — were full of grace, as she now 
crossed the threshold, her slender figure perfectly 
erect, while, bracing her left arm against her hip, 


12 


1/8 


FELICITAS. 


she raised the right to the handle of the jar to 
steady the heavy burden as she moved forward. 

Liuthari hastily started up to take it from her. 

But Haduwalt seized his arm. “ No, my son! 
She alone will not spill her wine : — what may 
happen, if you help, I don’t like to consider.” 

Liuthari gasped for breath ; unbuckling his 
heavy coat of mail he laid it aside and lifted the 
huge Roman helmet from his burning brow. He 
mechanically helped himself to the food, but eat 
very little and never averted his eyes from Feli- 
citas’ beautiful face. 

The young wife soon rose from the table. ‘‘ I 
am very tired,” she said. “ I have not slept since 
Fulvius went away. Besides, some impulse draws 
me to our child ; I shall be soothed by its quiet 
breathing. I will bring you some cushions and 
coverlets ; you must rest here. We have no 
other room fit for such guests.” 

“ Never mind me,” cried Liuthari, starting up. 

I can’t sleep. Or I’ll sleep on the soft turf in 
the garden, with my head on my shield, — come 
with me, old man.” 

“No, I would rather sleep here — just here!” 
replied the latter with a sly smile. “But my 


FELICITAS. 


179 


wolf-skin is enough for me, kind hostess. Have 
you locked the back-door, which you said leads 
into the garden ?” 

“Yes. For Philemon will not probably come 
back from the city till morning.” 

“ Certainly not earlier. The gates are closed 
at nightfall. I shall lie here very comfortably — 
do you see, just on the threshold of your room, 
before the curtain. Sleep calmly,” he called after 
her as, bearing away the remains of the meal, she 
passed behind the curtain. “ Not even a mouse 
could reach you without waking me. See, I fill 
the whole width of the entrance. There ! Now 
ril put the wine jar beside me ; hurrah, it’s still 
nearly full ! And last year’s vintage makes an 
excellent drink. Your husband understands it. 
I’ll yet drain the jar — but I won’t go to sleep. 
Oh, no !” 

“ May ye rest well, guests,” said Felicitas, and 
disappeared. 

Liuthari cast a strange, contemptuous glance 
at old Haduwalt as the latter crouched in the 
corner with the huge wine-jar by his side. 

Then, laughing loudly, he sprang down the 
steps into the garden. 


12 


i8o 


FELICITAS. 


“ What ! ” he said to himself with mingled 
amusement and defiance, does the grumbler 
suppose he can prevent me, if I really wish to 
cross that threshold ? He keep watch ! Before he 
has swallowed half the heavy wine, he’ll be snor- 
ing like Donar in the giant’s hall. Perhaps I 
might not have done it, but now I will, just for 
the very reason that he expects to restrain me ! 
What I shall do when I stand before the beautiful 
sleeper — I don’t yet know. But I’ll force my 
way to her side, in spite of the old grumbler.” 
The youth’s feverish excitement found vent in 
this defiant anger against his old friend. 

The latter looked after him with twinkling 
eyes. 

When the hasty steps died away he called 
softly: ” Young hostess.” 

“ What else do you want ?” 

“ Have you a ball of yarn in the house ?” 

“Certainly, here is one.” 

“ Very good. Give me the end through the 
curtain. There ! See, I’ll bind this thread to my 
sword-belt, and you — you take the ball in your 
hand. Hold it tight, even in your sleep, do you 


FELICITAS. 


8i 


understand ? And if you have a bad dream — pull 
quickly.” 

“What is the use of that? I can call you.” 

“Better not rely upon that,” said the old man 
rubbing his weary eyes. “ They say when I once 
fall asleep after drinking wine, all the battle-shouts 
of the Alemanni could not rouse me ; but I notice 
any pull at my belt. Then I’ll wake — in case 
I should fall asleep at all, and rush to your 
help.” 

“ As you choose. But it is needless ; your 
companion is keeping watch in the garden.” 

“ Oh, he ! Don’t believe that ! He’s as sleepy 
as a marmot. Don’t trust him. So hold the ball 
fast. And now good- night, you dear little thing. — 
I like her myself,” he muttered. “ I like her very 
much. But I must make the boy disgusted with 
her. He never yet stroked any woman’s cheek 
save his mother’s, and is as full of strength and 
fire as a young stag. And now he meets this 
dainty white hind ! It would be a pity for even 
the slightest fear to enter her innocent heart. I 
must guard her — and him. One more sip, and 
then : Haduwalt be sober and watchful.” 

The little lamp in the sleeping-room shone 


i 82 


FELICITAS. 


faintly ; only a dim glimmer of light fell through 
the red curtain. 

The lamp in the front chamber went out. 

Silence pervaded the whole house. No sound 
was heard save the drowsy murmur of the little 
fountain ; old Haduwalt soon distinguished the 
deep, regular breathing of the sleeping Felicitas. 
He counted steadily up to a hundred. 

Then, with a groping, unsteady movement, he 
laid his hand on the thread at his belt. 

“ All right,” he thought. “ And I won’t go to 
sleep ! No indeed ! A hundred and one !” 

Then he counted no farther. 


i83 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

The magic of the warm, exquisite summer 
night brooded over the silent garden. 

Countless stars shone resplendently in the 
cloudless sky. 

And now the full moon rose in the east over 
the wall of Juvavum, which had hitherto con- 
cealed her, flooding the white house, the dark 
bushes, the tall trees with her bright, fantastic 
light, so wholly unlike that of day. 

Numberless nocturnal flowers in the gardens 
of the villa and the meadows outside now opened 
the calixes that had remained closed all day and 
breathed their fragrance forth upon the soft air; — 
the young German paced the garden with restless 
steps. 

The nightingale was singing amid the roses of 
the adjoining garden — loud, clear, fervent, pas- 
sionate notes: Liuthari would rather not have 
heard her melody ! Yet he could not help listen- 
ing to her ardent music. 


FELICITAS. 


184 


The night-breeze tossed his floating locks — 
he had left breast-plate and helmet in the house, 
and taken only his spear, to use as a staff, and the 
buckler on which to lay his head when he wanted 
rest. 

But he found no rest. 

With resolute decision he walked far away 
from the house which so strongly attracted him, to 
the entrance where the stone slabs still lay scat- 
tered about. 

As the stock of stones did not suffice to fill up 
the entrance, the old slave, with a pick-axe, had 
torn up several — among them the one bearing 
the inscription — from the threshold. 

Liuthari now seated himself on the overturned 
slabs, just behind the entrance, and gazed dream- 
ily in the mild moonlight at the shining stars. 

He forced himself to think of his parents at 
home, the victory won that day, Agilolf’s daugh- 
ter with the beautiful name, — how would the 
maiden probably look ? 

Ah, nothing availed; he only deluded himself; 
through all the visions conjured up in thought 
appeared, pushing them aside till they melted like 
the mists of the morning, Felicitas’ noble face, 


FELICITAS. 185 

pallid as marble — the rhythmic symmetry of her 
exquisite figure. 

” Felicitas !” he murmured softly. 

Long, long he ^t lost in reverie. 

Suddenly the nightingale, disturbed, paused in 
her song. 

Liuthari was sharply roused from his thoughts 
and dreams. Several steeds — their iron-,shod 
hoofs echoed loudly on the hard pavement of the 
military road — were dashing at furious speed 
from Juvavum ; the German’s practised ear clearly 
distinguished two, perhaps three, horses. 

The youth started up and seized the spear 
resting beside him. 

“Those are not Alemanni,’’ he said to himself. 
“ Who else can it be ? Roman fugitives ? Or - — 
her husband ?’’ 

He stepped behind one of the pillars of the 
entrance which concealed his figure, even his 
shadow, while the moonlight showed him the road 
and the path leading from it down to the villa as 
clearly as if it were broad day. 

The hoof-beats now ceased. 

The watcher distinctly saw three men leap 


FELICITAS. 


1 86 

from their horses and tie them to a stone mile- 
post. 

One, the tallest, wore a Roman helmet decked 
with waving black horsehair, the other two the 
morions of the Moorish troopers ; their white 
cloaks fluttered in the night wind. 

“ That is scarcely her husband. And those men 
are not slaves belonging to this villa. Yet they are 
coming here. What do they seek ? Shall I call 
Haduwalt ? Pshaw, King Liutbert’s son has often 
withstood three foes at once.” 

At this moment the helmeted rider reached 
the entrance. 

“Wait here,” he said, raising his short javelin, 
“ ril bring the woman alone. If I need you, I’ll 
call you. But I think. ...” 

“ Halt, Romans !” cried Liuthari, springing 
with lowered spear into the centre of the entrance, 
in the full radiance of the moonlight, “What do ye 
seek here ?” 

“ A German ! Down with him !” shouted 
three voices in the same breath. 

But in the same instant the leader staggered 
two paces back. Liuthari had dealt him a thrust 


FELICITAS. 187 

with his spear, delivered with all his strength upon 
the Roman’s corslet. 

Had not the manufacturer of armor at Lorch 
produced such excellent work, the point would 
have pierced the man through and through. As it 
was, it rebounded — and broke. 

The German angrily dropped the worthless 
shaft. 

“ By Tartarus ! that was a murderous blow,’" 
said Leo fiercely. “ Caution is needed here. Raise 
your spears ! We’ll throw them at the same. time.” 

The three javelins flew at once — Liuthari 
caught them all on his shield ; one, hurled with 
special force and fury, pierced the joints of the 
triple covering of ox-hide and the ash-wood of the 
buckler, scratching his arm near the shoulder. 

The vigorous youth scarcely felt the slight 
wound ; but he could no longer nimbly use the 
shield, now weighted with three lances. 

“ Haduwalt !” he shouted loudly, “ Waffena 1 
Feindio ! Help !” At the same moment he seized 
one of the three lances in his shield, tore it out, 
and hurled it, — the Moor at the tribune’s right 
shrieked and fell lifeless on the ground. 

“ I’ll throw him down and you can kill him. 


i88 


FELICITAS. 


my lord,” cried the second. It was Himilko, the 
centurion, who now sprang with the bound of 
the panther of his native deserts at Liuthari’s 
throat. 

But the latter with the speed of thought had 
snatched the short knife from his sword-belt and 
now thrust it into his assailant’s forehead between 
the eyes. The brown, sinewy arms which had 
seized Liuthari’s shoulders like the claws of a 
beast of prey, loosened — the African fell back- 
ward without a sound. 

But the German had not even time to draw 
out the blade of his dagger. 

“ Help, Haduwalt !” he shouted loudly, for al- 
ready the third foe, an extremely dangerous an- 
tagonist, had rushed upon him. 

With one powerful sword-stroke he cleft Liu- 
thari’s shield, which, divided into halves, with the* 
spears still sticking in it, fell from his arm on the 
right and left. 

At the same time the Roman thrust the sharp 
iron point on the boss of his arched shield deep 
into the prince’s bare right arm ; his blood spouted 
high in the air from the wound. 

Staggering under the weight of the heavy blow. 


FELICITAS. 189 

he recoiled several paces, almost stumbling over 
the stone slabs under his feet. 

The fierce foe, completely encased in iron 
armor, stepped victoriously into the centre of the 
entrance, kicking the two halves of the shield out- 
side that his antagonist might not draw out the 
spears sticking in them. 

The Roman with a keen glance measured his 
ppponent, who had now drawn from his belt his 
last remaining weapon, the short-handled battle- 
axe ; spite of the intruder’s superior arms, the tall 
German, with the advantage of his greater height, 
must have seemed a formidable foe. 

“ Why do we rend each other. Barbarian ? 
Why do you defend this house so fiercely? I don’t 
wish to dispute its possession with you ! I’ll leave 
it as soon as I have taken a single piece of prop- 
erty.” 

“ What kind of property ? Does it belong to 
you ? You are not the master of the house.” 

“ I’ll give up the house to you. I’ll only take — 
a wife.” 

“ Your wife ? Felicitas ? No ! She is no wife of 
yours.” 

“ What ? Are you already so intimate in the 


190 


FELICITAS. 


house !” cried the Roman furiously. “But Felici- 
tas is vio\. your wife either. Nor shall she ever be. 
She is 

“ Never !” shouted Liuthari, springing forward 
and dealing so fierce a blow with his stone battle- 
axe upon the tribune’s magnificent helmet that it 
burst just where the crest was inserted, falling in 
fragments from its wearer’s head. 

But alas ! That head remained uninjured, 
while the battle-axe, striking with the utmost force 
against the brazen curve, broke off at the handle. 

Leo stood still a moment, as if stunned by the 
blow. 

The next instant he perceived that his foe was 
standing before him unarmed and defenceless, yet 
without turning his face to fly. 

With a fierce, tigerish cry, in which thirst for 
blood and vengeful delight were shrilly blended, 
Leo dropped his shield, drew his short, broad 
Roman sword to deal the death-thrust, and with 
the shout, “ Felicitas is mine !” sprang on the 
German. 

But at the first exclamation, Liuthari, bending 
forward and raising the heel of his left foot, had 
hastily grasped with both hands one of the marble 


FELICITAS. 


I9I 

slabs lying before him, and shouting “ For 
Felicitas !” swung it once above his head and 
then, taking careful aim, hurled it with the full 
strength of his muscular wrists against the bared 
brow of the foe rushing upon him. 

The tribune, uttering a hollow groait, reeled 
backward, his armor clashing loudly as he fell; 
his sword slipped from his hand. 

Liuthari knelt on his breast, grasped the sword 
and was about to stab the Roman in the throat. 

But the tribune no longer breathed. 

Liuthari rose, flung the sword away, and gazed 
proudly at his three fallen foes: “For Felicitas!” 
he said. “ Now — to her I I think — I have 
earned it” 

He knelt by the rivulet flowing beside him, 
washed the aching, bleeding wound in his right 
arm, tore a wide strip from the dead centurion’s 
linen mantle, bound it firmly over the wound, and 
with a light, elastic step traversed the long dis- 
tance through the garden back to the house. 


192 


CHAPTER XIX. 

On reaching the outer door he cautiously- 
pushed the yellow curtain aside and let the moon- 
light stream into the dark dining-room. Before 
the red curtain that closed the entrance to the 
sleeping-room lay Haduwalt — snoring ; beside 
him, on its side, was the empty amphora. 

The youth’s heart throbbed violently as, step- 
ping lightly forward on tiptoe, he carefully parted 
the curtain. Then he noticed — with a smile — 
the arrangement of the yarn ; the end was still 
fastened to Haduwalt’s belt ; but the sleeper’s 
hand had opened, the ball lay on the stool before 
her couch. 

Liuthari stepped over the old man into the 
sleeping-room. 

Above the head of the bed, in a niche, stood 
the little clay lamp which shed a dim light on the 
pillow. 

By its dull red glow he saw the infant in a 
straw cradle beside the wide bed. 


FELICITAS. 


193 


Beautiful Felicitas had loosed her thick, light 
brown hair, which fell over her bare shoulders and 
exquisitely moulded, though not fully developed, 
bosom, from which the woollen coverlet had partly 
slipped aside. 

She had thrust her snowy left arm between the 
back of her head and her neck ; her right hand 
rested protectingly on her left breast 

The watcher advanced to her side. 

Never, while awake, had he seen her look so 
fair, — and the strict guardianship exerted by the 
grave eyes when open, was now relaxed. 

Her lips were half parted ; Liuthari felt her 
sweet breath. 

The youth trembled from head to foot 

“ Only one kiss !” he thought. “ And it 
shall not wake her.” 

He had already stooped softly towards her face 
when the beautiful lips moved and the sleeper 
said tenderly, “ Come, oh my Fulvius, kiss 
me!” 

Liuthari, as if struck by a thunderbolt, turned, 
sprang with a light bound across the threshold 
and the slumbering Haduwalt, then with a second 
cleared the steps leading down to the garden, 
13 


194 


FELICITAS. 


clasped his hands over his eyes, and murmured, 
“ Oh ! what a crime I had almost committed.” 

Bending on one knee, he hid his face in the 
dewy grass; remorse, pain, unfulfilled longing were 
seething in his soul, and soon beneficently found 
vent in a flood of tears. 

He lay in this attitude a long time. 

At last youth exerted its healing influence 
upon the exhausted wounded hero, who sank into 
a deep, dreamless sleep. 


95 


CHAPTER XX. 


When on the following morning the summer 
sun rose magnificently over Juvavum and the yel- 
low thrush began to sing its matin song, young 
Liuthari started up — a cured man and a more 
mature one. 

The wound in his arm no longer ached, and 
his imagination, which had been far more passion- 
ionately excited than his heart, was soothed. 

No longer dissatisfied with himself, but joyous 
and calm, he washed his face in the fountain, and 
carefully concealing his bandaged arm under his 
white cloak, went up the steps to the outer room. 

Here Haduwalt, yawning and stretching both 
arms, received him with the words : 

“ Why, how long you have slept ! And I — 
I don’t believe I have closed an eye all night.” 

“ But perhaps you shut your ears !” said Liu- 
thari laughing. “ Where is the mistress of the 
house? I’m hungry.” 


13 


196 


FELICITAS. 


“ Here I am !” called Felicitas. “ I’ll bring 
some new-laid eggs, milk, and honey, Philemon 
is already milking the cow in the meadow behind 
the house. 

“Just think,” she said, pushing back the cur- 
tain and extending a hand to each of her guests, 
“ the old slave came from the city by the meadow 
path early this morning, as soon as the gates were 
opened, and roused me by knocking at the back 
door. I slept so soundly.” 

“ And doubtless had pleasant dreams ?” asked 
Liuthari smiling. 

“Yes, as usual, when I dream — they were 
about Fulvius. Philemon did not find his master, 
it is true, but I still have good courage, — the pious 
Johannes ordered all the dead and wounded to be 
brought in. The dead were placed before the 
church, and the wounded within. Philemon 
looked carefully at them all. Praised be the Lord, 
the Saints, and our guardian angels, — my Fulvius 
is not among them.” 

She sat down with her guests. 

Philemon brought the warm, foaming milk in 
a round jug, and casting glances of amazement at 
the two Germans whom the mistress had told him 


FELICITAS. 


197 


were protectors, not foes, returned to the back 
part of the house. Felicitas followed him to take 
the child which seemed to be awake. 

“Tell me, my grim old tutor in the art of 
arms,” Liuthari now began, “are you going to 
learn women’s business in your old age ? And the 
use of yarn ? What kind of ball are you dragging 
at your belt ?” 

The old giant cast a puzzled glance at his 
waist and the long, long yarn which had become 
tangled around his big feet. 

“ That ? Oh, that’s only something between 
the mistress of the house and myself She likes me 
so much — far better than she likes you — so, that 
I might not run away, she tied me fast to her 
couch.” 

“ You were going to complain of me to my 
mother. ...” 

“ Yes, if I hadn’t kept watch, who knows. . . !” 

“ But now I shall tell your strict house-wife, 
Grimmtrud, about your being bound to the young 
beauty’s couch.” 

The youth stooped, broke off the ball, and 
slipped it in his doublet. 

“ I’ll keep this,” he continued gravely, “ as a 


198 


FELICITAS. 


memento of an hour when Haduwalt slept, the 
yarn lay loose upon the ground, and Liuthari 
watched — for three.” 

Just at that moment Felicitas entered, holding 
her child in her arms. 

'' The day is lengthening,” she sighed, and 
with it my anxiety increases. Oh ! my Fulvius, 
where can you be ?” 

“ Here I am !” cried a clear, joyous voice, and 
pushing aside the outer curtain, the object of her 
longing rushed into the room. 

Felicitas sprang up with a cry of joy, and Ful- 
vius tenderly clasped mother and child in his arms. 

Liuthari rose ; he beheld the pair without a 
pang of sorrow, and gazed with a frank, joyous 
expression at the returned husband. 

The latter drew back a step in astonishment, 
measuring the handsome youth with his eyes ; a 
thrill of fear darted through his heart for an in- 
stant, but vanished like the shadow of a passing 
cloud when he glanced at his wife’s peaceful face, 
radiant with happiness. 

“ What has happened to me, dearest ? Locked 
up in the debtors’ prison day before yesterday — 
freed and led to battle by Severus early yesterday 


FELICITAS. 


199 


morning — I fought, fled, was pursued, fell into 
the river, was swept away by the current, reached 
the shore half unconscious — was captured and 
taken to the city by other horsemen, and finally, 
this morning, was saved by a miracle of the Lord 
or Saint Peter, I don’t know which.” 

“ A miracle ? Oh ! I thank our God for His 
mercy. He heard my prayer ! But what miracle?” 

‘‘Johannes, whenever wearies in caring for his 
parishioners, entreated the Duke of the Barbarians 
yesterday evening to release all the captured citi- 
zens of Juvavum. The powerful leader replied that 
he would willingly set free those who had fallen to 
his share of the booty, but he could not take from 
his warriors the prisoners that belonged to them, 
he could only purchase them — the Germans have 
very different ideas of justice from ours — and he 
did not feel disposed to exhaust his treasure in 
doing so. Many of us were therefore released that 
night ; but a much larger number remained, like 
myself, in bondage. At the first dawn of morn- 
ing Johannes again appeared at the- Capitol, where 
the duke had taken up his residence, and — bought 
us all ! You are amazed ; you ask where the priest, 
who has nothing of his own except his robe and 


200 


FELICITAS. 


staft', obtained so much money. Yes, that is the 
miracle! When, grieving over the prisoners’ fate 
he returned to the basilica, he found in an old 
vault under the floor of the church a bag full of 
gold coins and a small pouch of gems, amply suf- 
ficient to buy us all. Whence came this treasure ? 
No one knows. The angel of the Lord had evi- 
dently heard Johannes’ prayer and brought the 
wealth. All Juvavum is marvelling over the 
miracle. And I promise you, my pious wife, 
henceforth I will listen more devoutly to Johannes’ 
words. But you, dearest ? What horrors have 
threatened you !” 

“ But nothing has happened to me, thanks to 
Heaven, to these guests of ours, and perhaps,” 
she added smiling, “ to your motto on the stone at 
the entrance; it held evil aloof ” 

“ So you know who wished to cross it ?” 

“ How should I ? I haven’t left the house.” 

“ Then you don’t suspect how true your words 
were ! Listen and breathe freely again; just now 
when rushing here from the city I approached 
the hill, I saw three horses tied to the mile-stone 
and among them — I know it only too well — the 
tribune’s charger ! Full of terror I ran to our gate; 


FELICITAS. 


201 


there lay — horrible sight ! — two slain Moors and 
— just across the threshold, stretched on his back 
with a shattered skull, the terrible tribune ! His 
face was half covered by the slab bearing the in- 
scription, the broken corner of which had pierced 
into his head. That stone felled the man who 
was never conquered. But whose arm hurled 
it?” 

Old Haduwalt, who at the first mention of the 
battle had gazed suspiciously at his young mas- 
ter’s averted face, drew the white mantle from the 
latter’s shoulder, pointed to the blood-stained ban- 
dage and said : 

“ This arm ! — And I .... ! Oh ! Liuthari, 
my darling — I meanwhile lay asleep.” 

Tolerably sound asleep,” said the prince 
smiling, and turning to the master of the house, 
continued: “Yes, I killed that brave man. He 

wanted to force his way in here and. ...” 

“ Kidnap Felicitas !” cried the husband, clasp- 
ing his terrified wife in his arms. “ Oh, my 
lord, how can we thank you ?” he added. 

Speech failed Felicitas; she only fixed a glance, 
misty with tears, on her preserver ; even at night 
she had not been so beautiful. 


202 


FELICITAS. 


‘‘Thank me!” cried Liuthari laughing. “I was 
fighting for my life. But hark ! Who is coming?” 

The steps of armed men echoed in the garden 
and Duke Garibrand entered, accompanied by 
five followers. 

“You two have piled up a goodly piece of 
work outside before the entrance. The tribune, 
for whom we have searched everywhere, has 
fallen— doubtless by your hand. Do I find you at 
last, my young hero ? I bring welcome tidings. 
A message from your father is seeking you. The 
Roman stronghold on the Regenfluss has fallen; 
my cousin, the Duke Agilolf, and your father 
have concluded the betrothal : Agilolf invites you 
to his halls; Adalagardis, the fairest princess in 
Germany, awaits you.” 

“Hail, my Prince, this is your reward for last 
night,” cried Haduwalt. 

“ Betrothal ? I never saw her I” said Liuthari 
hesitatingly. 

“ Betrothal — well — if you please each other!” 
said the duke. 

'' He vjiW please her,” cried Haduwalt laugh- 
ing and patting the blushing youth on the shoul- 
der. “And I hope. . . .” he whispered mysteriously 


FELICITAS. 


203 


in his ear, “that she, the beauty whom you may 
love, will also please y 071/ ’ 

“Now, choose whatever portion of the booty 
you desire,” continued the duke. “To you 
Alemanni — above all — we owe the victory.” 

“ I will accompany you,” said Liuthari, rising 
with prompt decision. “ Help me, old friend.” 

Haduwalt aided him to buckle on his breast- 
plate, and the youth placed the Roman helmet, 
with its proud crest and towering plumes, on his 
handsome head. The prince stood before them 
with majestic bearing, his joyous face transfigured 
by lofty enthusiasm. 

“ Oh ! all will be well now,” cried Fulvius ex- 
ultantly. “ The tribune is slain ; Zeno the usurer 
lies dead, murdered by unknown hands, probably 
by his slaves, Johannes told me. There is no longer 
an emperor in Ravenna : so this young hero in- 
formed us yesterday morning. Now I am free 
from all debts to the exchequer.” 

“That is not quite true,” said Liuthari laugh- 
ing. “ This powerful duke has taken the emperor’s 
place: — you are now /ns debtor.” 

Fulvius anxiously grasped his right ear and 
looked timidly up at the mighty leader. 


204 


FELICITAS. 


“ Do not fear,” Liuthari continued. “ Duke 
Garibrand, I request as part of my share of the 
booty this villa and the land belonging to it. And 
free from all indebtedness.” 

“ It shall be as you say,” replied the Bajuvar- 

ian. 

“ And to you, Fulvius and Felicitas, I give 
this free property before these seven free men as 
witnesses. Their oaths shall help you, if any one 
disputes your right.” 

“Thanks, my lord, thanks.” 

“Are you Fulvius the stone-cutter?” asked 
the duke. “ The priest Johannes has recommended 
you to me as honest and faithful: if you remain 
so, I will make you steward of my estate outside 
this gate.” 

Then Felicitas, after whispering a short time 
with her husband, came forward, holding her child 
on her arm, to Liuthari, and blushing faintly, 
said : 

“ My lord, whoever gives as much as you — 
must bestow still more. Our little son is not yet 
named. I was to carry him to the baptismal font 
in the basilica next Sunday. What shall the boy 
be called ?” 


FELICITAS: 


205 


“ Felix Fulvius,” said the prince, deeply moved, 
laying his hand on the tiny little head, “and — Liii- 
thari : that my name may yet often fall upon your 
ears. But whoever gives a name bestows a present 
also, — such is the German custom. Here, young 
wife, take this ring. I stripped it, years ago, from 
the finger of a patrician I had killed in battle. 
The dealers in Augusta Vindelicorum said it was 
worth as much as half their city. It will be a 
treasure in case of need! — And now farewell to 
you both.” 

“Stop !” cried Haduwalt, “that’s not the way 
people take leave of each other — : for life. You 
ask, stone-cutter, how you can thank the hero ? 
Let your young wife give him a kiss, — believe 
me, he has deserved it ; he is a gallant fellow.” 

Fulvius led the blushing Felicitas to the 
prince. 

Liuthari pressed a kiss on her white brow, ex- 
claiming: “Farewell, lovely wife, forever! ” 

Ere the words were fully spoken he had left 
the room ; the curtain rustled behind him. 

The other Germans followed; at the entrance 
of the garden all mounted their steeds and dashed 
swiftly back to the Porta Vindelica. . . . 


2o6 


FELICITAS. 


The first thing Fulvius did after removing, 
with Philemon’s assistance, the three corpses, was 
to carefully replace the stone bearing the inscrip- 
tion in the flagging of the entrance, but he did not 
supply the broken corner : “ It shall always re- 

mind us how effectual the motto has been,” he 
said. 


And the motto — guarded the husband and 
wife all their lives. 

No misfortune crossed the threshold while they 
dwelt there. 

Blooming sons and daughters grew up after 
Felix Fulvius Liuthari. 

No sickness attacked parents or children, 
though dangerous pestilences ravaged Juvavum 
and the villas outside. 

The Ivarus often overflowed its banks, dealing 
destruction to human beings, animals, houses, and 
crops ; but it always paused before this gate, be- 
fore the Hill of Mercury. 

A land-slide covered the gardens on the right 


FELICITAS. 


207 


and left — a huge fragment of rock rolled as far as 
the inscription on the stone, where it broke harm- 
lessly into a thousand splinters. 

Fulvius became “Villicus” of all the ducal 
estates around Juvavum, and, by reason of his 
judgment and faithfulness, stood high in Duke 
Garibrand’s favor. 

When he and his Felicitas had become very 
old people, eighty years of age, but still active and 
vigorous, they sat hand in hand in the garden one 
June evening, — they had had a bench put up 
close by the entrance, so that their feet rested on 
the motto. 

They sat there thinking of the past. 

The yellow thrush was singing softly in the 
neighboring beech-wood. 

Gradually it became silent; for the air had 
grown very sultry — a thunder-storm was rising. 

It lightened sharply and thundered. 

The children wanted to lead their aged parents 
into the house. 

But when Felix Fulvius Liuthari, in advance 
of the others, reached them, he found both dead. 

A flash of lightning had killed them. 


208 


FELICITAS. 


They still held each other’s hands, and were 
smiling as if they wished to say: “We have 
received no evil stroke of Death — but a Bene- 
diction ! ” 


END. 







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HENRY IRVING. A short account of his public life. 
Paper, with frontispiece, 50 cts. Cloth, with four illustrations, 
$1.25. 


“ A little volume that will prove very attractive, apropos of the 
visit of Mr. Irving to this country. We refer to a ‘ Life ’ of Mr. 
Irving, the authorship of which is not acknowledged, but which 
brims with fact, anecdote, and criticism that most people will be 
glad to read. There are portions of this biography which evince 
unusual ability on the part of the author. The criticism is not by 
any means always his own, some of the best London dailies and 
weeklies being drawn upon. The book tells all about Mr. Irving 
that one wants to know, and nothing of which one would prefer 
to be ignorant.” — N. Y. Evening Telegram. 

“The writer frankly states that he has had none of those 
wonderful ‘private sources’ of information, of which so much is 
said by writers in these days, thrown open to his favored ear and 
eye. But he has certainly managed to accumulate an interesting 
fund of biographical and professional particulars, and his volume 
furnishes quite all that any one need know in order to understand 
the antecedents of the man, his peculiarities as an actor, and the 
course of his somewhat remarkable career.” — TheN^ew Yotk Star. 

“We all want to know something about Mr. Irving, even 
those of us who are not particularly drawn to the stage, and as 
much as there is to know — at any rate as much as we have a right 
to know — Moll be found duly set forth in this study of his profes- 
sional life.” — The Mail atid Express. N. Y. 

“The author has succeeded in making a very interesting and 
undoubtedly truthful account of the public life of the actor, and 
the publication is opportune in view of Irving’s arrival in this 
country in October.” — Hartford Daily Times. 

“The opening chapters are even more interesting than 
those which are concerned with his career when it has ripened 
into prominence. The most minute particulars are given of his 
engagements, and with a little study it is possible to become 
familiar with all details of his professional life. Some chapters 
also are given to Miss Ellen Terry and Mr. William Terriss, both 
of whom are known as faithful coadjutors of Mr. Irving, and 
upon whose co-operation he is greatly dependent for the satisfying 
completeness of his stage productions.” — Art Interchange. 


William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York. 


A TRAGEDY AT CONSTANTINOPLE. - By 
Leila-Hauouill, translated from the French, with notes, 
by Geii. K. E. Colstou, one vol. pa., 50 cts. clo., 90 cts. 

“The romance has for its groundwork the mysterious and 
fascinating subject of harem life in the East, and is founded on 
facts. The tragedy is one no less thrilling in culmination than 
the violent ending of the Sultan Abdul-Aziz, which startled the 
world only a few years ago. The author works her way to this 
climax by a narrative almost as strange as a chapter out of the 
Arabian Nights. Incidentally it falls to her lot to reveal the 
secrets of the harems so jealously guarded from observation. She 
seems to have enjoyed inside views of those shrouded places to 
an extent I'are if not unprecedented among persons not actually 
inmates of them. At all events no work surpasses this in its dis- 
closures of the deep shadows of that female slavery which remains 
the foulest blot upon the domestic institutions of Turkey. The 
Empress Eugenie, Midhat-Pasha, Reshid-Pasha, Hassan-Bey, 
and other personages of rank and power in their day, are among 
the characters who play their part in this extraordinary book. 
General R. E. Colston, long identified with the Egyptian Army, 
is the translator, and supplies a preface so good that it should not 
be skipped .” — The Journal of Commerce, Nexo York. 

“It is a translation from the French by Leila-Hanoum, by 
Gen. R. E. Colston, late Bey on the General Staff, Egyptian 
Army, who thinks (and we agree with him) that it will give the 
readers a more complete idea of the Mussulman than he could 
obtain by wading through volumes of mere description. What 
the novels of Georg Ebers are to the life of ancient Egypt and 
Rome, and the stories of Galdos are to the life of Spain, the 
Tragedy in the Imperial Harem is to the life of Turkey, as reveal- 
ed in the luxuriant, indolent idleness of the Sultan and in the end- 
less intrigues of his Pashas and Beys, and as concealed (at least 
from the eye of the Giaour) in the stifling recesses of the seraglio. 
It is a story of love and vengeance, the love and the vengeance of 
harem life running like a black thread through the tawdry splendor 
of two generations, and shooting its stains along the web and 
woof of other lives than those of the sufferers. If it reminds us 
of anything, it is of the early romantic work of Byron, who was 
the first Englishman whom the East really inspired, and wEo 
painted with singular poetic power the dark unbridled passion of 
its souls of fire — “with whom revenge was virtue.” We have in 
the Tragedy in the Imperial Harem a prose-poem of striking in- 
terest, and of permanent value, as a picture of Eastern manners.” 
— The Mail and Express, New York. 

Williavi S. Gottsbei'ger, PublisJiei', New York. 


QUINTUS CLAUDIUS. — A Romance of Imperial Rome, 

by Ernst Ecksteui, from the German by Clara Bell, in 
'' two vols. Paper, $1.00. Cloth, $1.75. 

“We owe to Eckstein the brilliant romance of ‘Quintus 
Claudius,’ which Clara Bell has done well to translate for us, for 
it is worthy of place beside the Emperor of Ebers and the Aspasia 
of Hamerling. It is a story of Rome in the reign of Domitian, 
and the most noted characters of the time figure in its pages, 
which are a series of picturesque descriptions of Roman life and 
manners in the imperial city, and in those luxurious retreats at 
Baiae and elsewhere to which the wealthy Romans used to retreat 
from the heats of summer. It is full of stirring scenes in the 
streets, in the palaces, in the temples, and in the amphitheatre, 
and the actors therein represent every phase of Roman character, 
from the treacherous and cowardly Domitian and the vile Domitia 
down to the secret gatherings of the new sect and their exit from 
life in the blood-soaked sands of the arena, where they were torn 
in pieces by the beasts of the desert. The life and the manners 
of all classes at this period were never painted with a bolder 
pencil than by Eckstein in this masterly romance, which displays 
as much scholarship as invention.” — Mail and Express, JV. Y. 

“ These neat volumes contain a story first published in German. 
It is written in that style which Ebers has cultivated so success- 
fully. The place is Rome ; the time, that of Domitian at the end 
of the first century. The very careful study of historical data, is 
evident from the notes at the foot of nearly every page." The 
author attempted the difficult task of presenting in a single story 
the whole life of Rome, the intrigues of that day which compassed 
the overthrow of Domitian, and the deep fervor and terrible trials 
of the Christians in the last of the general persecutions. The 
court, the army, the amphitheatre, the catacombs, the evil and 
the good of Roman manhood and womanhood — all are here. 
And the work is done with power and success. It is a book for 
every Christian and for every student, a book of lasting value, 
bringing more than one nation under obligation to its author.” — 
Ne 7 u yernsalem Magamne, Boston, Mass. 

“A new Romance of Ancient Times I The success of Ernst 
Eckstein’s new novel, ‘Quintus Claudius,’ which recently ap- 
peared in Vienna, may fairly be called phenomenal, critics and the 
public unite in praising the work.” — Grazer Morgenpost. 

“•Quintus Claudius’ is a finished work of art, capable of 
bearing any analysis, a literary production teeming with instruc- 
tion and interest, full of plastic forms, and rich in the most dra- 
matic changes of mood.” — Pester Lloyd. 

William S. Gotisberger, Publisher, New York. 


ASP AS! A. — A Romance, by Robert Hamerliiig', from 
the German by Mary J. Safford, in two vols. Pa^^er, $i.oo. 
Cloth, $1.75. 


“We have read his work conscientiously, and, we confess, with 
profit. Never have we had so clear an insight into the manners, 
thoughts, and feelings of the ancient Greeks. No study has made 
us so familiar with the age of Pericles. We recognize throughout 
that the author is master of the period of which he treats. More- 
over, looking back upon the work from the end to the beginning, 
we clearly perceive in it a complete unity of purpose not at all 
evident during the reading.” 

“Hamerling’s Aspasia, herself the most beautiful woman in 
all Hellas, is the apostle of beauty and of joyousness, the im- 
placable enemy of all that is stern and harsh in life. Unfortunately, 
morality is stern, and had no place among Aspasia’s doctrines. 
This ugly fact, Landor has thrust as far into the background as 
possible. Hamerling obtrudes it. He does not moralize, he 
neither condemns nor praises ; but like a fate, silent, passionless, 
and resistless, he carries the story along, allows the sunshine for 
a time to silver the turbid stream, the butterflies and gnats to flut- 
ter above it in rainbow tints, and then remorselessly draws over 
the landscape gray twilight. He but follows the course of 
history; yet the absolute pitilessness with which he does it is 
almost terrible.” — Extracts from Review in Yale Literary 
Magazine. 

“ No more beautiful chapter can be found in any book of this 
age than that in which Pericles and Aspasia are described as visit- 
ing the poet Sophocles in the garden on the bank of the Cephis- 
sus.” — Utica Morning Herald. 

“It is one of the great excellencies of this romance, this lofty 
song of the genius of the Greeks, that it is composed with perfect 
artistic symmetry in the treatment of the different parts, and from 
the first word to the last is thoroughly harmonious in tone and 
coloring. Therefore, in ‘Aspasia,’ we are given a book, which 
could only proceed from the union of an artistic nature and a 
thoughtful mind — a book that does not depict fiery passions in 
dramatic conflict, but with dignified composure, leads the conflict 
therein described to the final catastrophe.” — Allgemeine Zeitung. 
(Augsburg). 

William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York. 


A WORD, ONJLY A WORD.— A Romance, by Georg 
Ebers, from the German by Mary J. Safford, in one voL 
Paper, 50 cts. Cloth, 90 cts. 

“ One never sits down to read a novel of Georg Ebers’ with- 
out the certainty of being entertained by it, and at the same time 
instructed about the period that it depicts. ‘ A Word, Only a 
Word,’ which Miss Mary J. Safford has translated, is a story of 
folk-life in the Black Forest, of soldier-life in the countries a,bout, 
and of art-life in Spain and the N-etherlands. Out of these ele- 
ments and the religious persecutions of the time when the Jewish 
race was under the ban everywhere, he has constructed a plot of 
uncommon interest and vitality, abounding in stirring scenes, now 
in tents where poor men lie, and now in the abodes of the great, 
notably in the palace of the Spanish king, and has cast over the 
whole an air of reality which is delightful. The characters are 
skilfully elaborated, particularly the character of the hero Ulrich, 
who, in his strength and weakness, is a realized ideal of the artist 
of the period. There is a warm, human interest throughout, and 
a pervading sense of the picturesque that is inseparable from all 
that Ebers writes. ‘A Word, Only a Word,’ is the best family 
romantic story that we have read for a long time .” — The Alail 
and Express, New York. 

THE BURGOMASTER’S WIFE.— A Romance, by 
Georg Ebers, from the German by Mary J. Safford, in 
one vol. Paper, 50 cts. Cloth, 75 cts. 

“In this romance Ur. Ebers has chosen one of the most 
glorious passages in the history of the Netherlands for the centre 
of his plot. The scene opens in the year 1574, with the defeat 
and death of Prince Louis of Nassau at the hands of Raguesenes 
and his troops. This is followed by that siege of Leyden, which 
brought immortal glory to the friends of liberty in Holland, when 
the firmness of the citizens braved disaster, the loss of property 
and the hazard of life. The sluices, which kept at bay the ever ag- 
gressive waves, were, by an act of stern courage and self-sacrifice, 
rarely equalled in the annals of ancient or modern warfare, opened 
in the face of friend and foe and thus, at the cost of immense de- 
struction to life and property, the Spaniards were forced to retreat, 
the flower of the attacking forces being overwhelmed or burned 
in the rising marshes. How effectively Dr. Ebers has treated 
such a drama in Holland’s struggle for freedom those who have 
read his previous works need not be informed .” — The Gazette., 
Montreal. 

William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York. 


THE EMPEKOR.— A Romance, by Georg’ Ebers, 

from the German by Clara Bell. Atitkorized edition, in 

two volumes. Paper, So cts. Cloth, $1.50. 

“ Like Hypatia, it gives a picture of the Roman Dominiori 
and the early growth of Christianity in Egypt. Its pages are 
brightened with the gay and sunny humanitarianism and the many- 
.sided sympathy which are the spontaneous outgrowth of the 
author’s own genial nature. True to the antique he avoids all dark 
psychological depths, and delights our minds with fresh and 
healthy pictures of the objective world. He has a keen and deli-, 
cate discrimination in the reading of character. His men and 
women are sharply individualized ; they glow with the warmest 
life ; their forms do not easily fade from the memory ; but the psy- 
chological power that created them is never obtruded ; the treat- 
ment is entirely picturesque. For obvious reasons, the milieu, or 
environment, of an historical novel should be minutely pictured. 
Such is the case in all of Ebers’ novels. These minute touches, 
show the master and genius. A second-rate writer would never 
think to tell us, as Professor Ebers does, that as Selene walked 
along the corridor v.dth the lamp in her hand, ‘ the flame blown 
about by the draught, and her own figure, were mingled here and 
there in the polished surface of the dark marble.’ Notice the 
minute touches, also, in the picture of the gate-keeper’s house : 

‘ The front of the gate-keeper’s house was quite grown over with 
ivy which framed the door and window in its long runners. Amidst 
the greenery hung numbers of cages with starlings, blackbirds, and 
smaller singing-birds. The wide door of the little house stood 
open, giving a view into a tolerably spacious and well-painted 
room. . . . Close to the drinking vessels on the stone top of the 
table, rested the arm of an elderly woman who had fallen asleep in 
the arm-chair in which she sat. Notwithstanding the faint gray 
moustache that marked her upper-lip, and the pronounced ruddi- 
ness of her forehead and cheeks, she looked pleasant and kind. 
She must have been dreaming of something that pleased her, for 
the expression of her lips and of her eyes — one being half open 
and the other closely shut — gave her a look of contentment. In 
her lap slept a large gray cat, and by its side — as though discord 
could never enter this bright little abode, which exhaled no s'avor 
of poverty, but, on the contrary, a peculiar and fragrant scent — 
lay a small shaggy dog, whose snowy whiteness of coat could only 
be due to the most constant care. Ebers excels in these studies of 
still life. Those acquainted with the chief traits of character and 
the chief events in Hadrian’s life, will wonder at the skill with 
which they are organically moulded into most charming narrative. 
The Emperor’s portrait is finely drawn, so is that of Sabina the 
Empress, and that of the sculptor. In fact, all the chief charac- 
ters seem to us like our personal friends or acquaintances.” — Th& 
American, Philadelphia, Saturday, Jime 18, 1881. 


THE SISTERS.— A Romance, by Geor^ Ehers, from 
the German by Clara Bell. Authorized edition. In one vol. 
Paper, 40 cts. Cloth, 75. 


“It is romantic, passionate, poetic and pure, as Professor 
Ebers’ stories always are. Its, chief merit, however, consists in 
the fact that it is a faithful and very effective picture of the histori- 
cal physiognomy of the period in which it is laid — a great epoch 
of Egyptian civilization, strongly marked by Greek influences.” — 
Louisville Courier- yournal. 

“ ‘The Sisters’ should be read attentively, for it really gives a 
fair archaeological insight into that life which existed a hundred 
years or so after Alexander had conquered Egypt. Perhaps the 
best compliment that can be paid to this romance is to insist that 
the erudition of the author is perfectly concealed, and you do not 
feel as if you were reading a treatise on Egyptology.” — New York 
Times. 


A QUESTION. — The Idyl of a Picture, by his friend Alma 
Tadema, related by Georg" Ebers, from the German by 
Mary J. Saffbrd. Authorized edition. In one vol. — with 
frontispiece. Paper, 40 cts. Cloth, 75 cts. 

“Perhaps it is because I seldom find time to read works of 
fiction that the little book has had so delicious a charm for me. 
The scene is laid on the island of Sicily, near Syracuse, and in 
sight of the smoky banner of Mt. vEtna; time, when the entire 
earth and air were peopled with gods, nymphs, and satyrs; theme, 
older than the city Dionysius desolated and Timoleon delivered, 
as old as humanity itself, for it is love. There is no villain, and 
consequently no crime; there is even no rival. The dramatis per- 
-some consist of that important factor of every love story, a beauti- 
ful girl, her invalid father, a garrulous old house-keeper, servants, a 
clown, some hens, a donkey, and, toward the very end, a lover. 
It is fragrant with blooming flowers, and it gives a pretty picture 
■of household duties and every-day life, perhaps at the very time 
when patient Penelope was being worried by suitors and sighing 
for the return of Ulysses. It can be read in a couple of hours, 
and the result is as refreshing as a summer shower upon thirsty 
fields.” — The Spectator, St. Louis. 

William S. Gottsbcrgcr, Publisher, New York. 


UARDA. — A Romance of Ancient Egypt, by Georj^ Ebers, 
from the German by Clara Beil. Authorized edition. Revised, 
corrected, and enlarged from the latest German edition. In two 
volumes. Paper, 8o cts. Cloth, $1.50. 

“It is perhaps not extravagant to say that there is no finer 
piece of work of its kind in existence. The book is a ravishing 
one to read, an absorbing, entrancing thing, which ought to com- 
mand the attention of all intelligent readers,” — iVeiu York Even- 
ing Post. 

“ To say that it is a book to lie owned is to give any novel high 
praise, but we think ‘ Uarda’ deserves it.” — The Auxtion, A^. Y. 

“ Regarded merely from a literary point of view, one of the 
most captivating novels lately published in this country is an Eng- 
lish version of the Egyptian romance entitled ‘ Uarda’ by Dr. G. 
M. Ebers.” — N. Y. Sun. 

“ Indeed, these romances of Ebers’ will do more to enlighten 
the people as to ancient Egypt than all our histories combined.” — 
Louisville Coxirier- yournal. 


HOMO SUM. — A Novel, by Georg' Eber.s, from the Ger- 
man by Clara Bell. Authorized edition. In one vol. Paper, 
40 cts. Cloth, 75 cts. 

“The characters are instinct with life and vigor, while tlie 
book abounds in descriptions and situations put forth in the most 
graphic and vivid style.” — A’’, Y. Times. 


AN EGYPTIAN PR INCESS.-A Romance, by Georg 

Ebers, from the German by Eleanor Grove. Authorized 
edition. Revised, corrected, and enlarged from the latest Ger- 
man edition, containing more than 500 historical notes and 
references. In two vols. Paper, 80 cts. Cloth, $1.50- 

“ The book is at once the most celebrated and the most widely 
popular of Ebers’ remarkable romances in Germany.” — N. Y. 
Evening Post. 

“ To write a book such as this is to have accomplished a great 
deal, but to have written it as Professor Ebers has written it, is 
to have made a valuable contribution to literature. ' For here are 
not only the results of careful research, the accumulation of his- 
torical study, but, added to them, a wealth of imagination and 
picturesqueness of description which render the work at once a 
novel and a history.”— A^. Y. Evening Express. 

William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York. 


EKJSESTINE. — A Novel, by Wiilieimiiie von Hill- 

eril, from the German by S. Baring-Gould, in two vols. 
Paper, So cts. Cloth, $1.50. 

“ ‘Ernestine’ is a work of positive genius. An English critic 
has likened the conception of the heroine in her childhood to 
George Eliot’s Maggie Tulliver, and truly there is a certain resem- 
blance ; but there is in the piece a much stronger suggestion of 
George Eliot’s calm mastery of the secret springs of human 
action, and George Eliot’s gift of laying bare the life of a human 
soul, than of likeness between particular characters or situations 
here and tKose with which Ave are familiar in George Eliot’s 
works .” — York Evening Post. 

THE HOUR WILE COME. — A Tale of an Alpine 
Cloister, by Willieliniiie von Hillern, from the Ger- 
man by Clara Bell, in one vol. Paper, 40 cts. Cloth, 75 cts. 

Hour Will Come' is the title of a translation by 
Clara Bell from the German original of Wilhelmine von Hillern, 
author of that beautiful romance ‘ Geier-Wally.’ ‘The Hour 
Will Come’ is hardly less interesting, its plot being one of the 
strongest and most pathetic that could well be imagined. The time 
is the Middle Ages, and Frau von Hillern has achieved a remark- 
able success in reproducing the rudeness, the picturesqueness and 
the sombre coloring of those days. Those who take up ‘The 
Hour Will Come’ will not care to lay it down again until they 
have read it through .” — Baltimore Gazette. 

HIGHER THAN THE CHURCH.— An Art Legend 
of Ancient Times, by Wilhelmine VOll Hillern, from 
the German by Mary J. Safford, in one vol. Paper, 25 cts. 
Cloth, 50 cts. 

“ Mary J. Safford translates acceptably a very charming short 
story from the German of Whlhelmine von Hillern. If it was not 
told by the sacristan of Breisach, it deserves to have been. It has 
the full flavor of old German ami English love tales, such as have 
been crystallized in the old ballads. The Emperor, the gifted 
boy, his struggles with the stupidity of his townsmen, his ap- 
parently hopeless love above him; these form the old delightful 
scene, set in a Diireresque border. There are touches here and 
there which refer to the present. The sixteenth century tale has 
a political moral 'that will appeal to Germans who believe that 
Alsatia, once German in heart as well as in tongue, ought to be 
held by force to the Fatherland till she forgets her beloved 
France.” — A". Times. 

William 5 . Gottsbcrger, Publisher, New York. 


THE ELEVENTH COM]>lANI>MENT.-A Romance 
by Anton Griulio Barrili, from the Italian by Clara 
Bell, in one vol. Paper, 50 cts. Cloth, 90 cts. 


“ If Italian literature includes any more such unique and 
charming stories as this one, it is to be hoped that translators will 
not fail to discover them to the American public. The ‘ Eleventh 
Commandment’ deals with a variety of topics — the social intrigues 
necessary to bring about preferment in political life, a communal 
order, an adventurous unconventional heiress, and her acquiescent, 
good-natured uncle, and most cleverly are the various elements 
combined, the whole forming an excellent and diverting little story. 
The advent of a modern Eve in the masculine paradise (?) estab- 
lished at the Convent of San Bruno is fraught with weighty con- 
sequences, not only to the individual members of the brotherhood, 
but to the well-being of the community itself. The narrative of 
M’lle Adela’s adventures is blithely told, and the moral deducible 
therefrom for men is that, on occasion, flight is the surest method 
of combating temptation. ” — Art Interchange^ New York, 

“Very entertaining is the story of ‘ The Eleventh Command- 
ment,’ ingeniously conceived and very cleverly executed.” — The 
Critic^ New York. 


A WHOISICAL AVOOmG.-By Anton Giulio 
Barrili, from the Italian by Clara Bell, in one vol. Paper, 
25 cts. Cloth, 50 cts. 

“If ‘The Eleventh Commandment,’ the previous work of 
Barrili, was a good three-act play, ‘A Whimsical Wooing’ is a 
sparkling comedietta. It is one situation, a single catastrophe, yet, 
like a bit of impressionist painting of the finer sort, it reveals in a 
flash all the possibilities of the scene. The hero, Roberto Fenoglio, 
a man of wealth, position, and accomplishments, finds himself at 
the end of his resources for entertainment or interest. Hopelessly 
bored, he abandon? himself to the drift of chance, and finds him- 
self, in no longer space of time than from midnight to daylight — 
where and how, the reader will thank us for not forestalling his 
pleasure in finding out for himself.” — The Nation, Nezv YotT. 

“•A Whimsical Wooing’ is the richly-expressive title under 
which ‘ Clara Bell ’ introduces a cleverly-narrated episode by 
Anton Giulio Barrili to American readers. It is a sketch of Italian 
life, at once rich and strong, but nevertheless discreet in sentiment 
and graceful in diction. It is the old story of the fallacy of trust- 
ing to a proxy in love matters.” — Boston Post, 

William S. Gottsberger, Pitblhhcr, Nezv York, 


GLORIA. — A NOVEL, by B. Perez Galdos, from the 
Spanish by Clara Bell, in two.vols. Paper, $i.oo, Cloth, $1.75 


“ B. Perez Galdos is like a whirlwind, resistless as he sweeps 
everything before him, while beneath, the waters of passion foam 
and heave and are stirred to their depths. Some chapters of this 
novel are absolutely agonizing in their intensity of passion, and 
the surge and rush of words bears the reader along breathless and 
terrified, till he finds himself almost ready to cry out. In others, 
the storm is lulled and the plash of waves is as musical as the 
author’s native tongue. In others still, he drones through the 
lazy summer day, and the reader goes to sleep. However, the 
story as a whole is stormy, and the end tragic ; yet we are lost in 
wonder at the man who can so charm us. 

“It is throughout a terrible impeachment of religious intoler- 
ance. If it had been written for a people possessing the temper 
of Englishmen or of Americans we should say that it must mark 
an epoch in the political and religious history of the country. Even 
written as it is by a Spaniard, and for Spaniards, allowing as we 
must for Spanish impulsiveness and grandiloquence, W'hich says a 
great deal to express a very little, we cannot but believe that the 
work is deeply significant. It is written by a young man and one 
who is rapidly rising in power and influence ; and when he speaks 
it is with a vehement earnestness which thrills one with the con- 
viction that Spain is awaking. ‘Fresh air,’ cries he, of Spain, 

‘ open air, free exercise under every wind that blows above or be- 
low ; freedom to be dragged and buffeted, helped or hindered, by 
all the forces that are abroad. Let her tear off her mendicant’s 
hood, her grave-clothes and winding-sheet, and stand forth in the 
bracing storms of the century. Spain is like a man who is ill from 
sheer apprehension, and cannot stir for blisters, plasters, bandages 
and wraps. Away with all this paraphernalia, and the body will 
recover its tone and vigor. ’ Again : ‘ Rebel, rebel, your intelli- 

gence is your strength. Rise^ assert yourself; purge your eyes of 
the dust which darkens them, and look at truth face to face.’ 
Strange language this for Spain of the Inquisition, for bigoted, 
unprogressive, Catholic Spain. The author goes to the root of 
Spanish decadence ; he fearlessly exposes her degradation and de- 
clares its cause. All students of Spanish history will find here 
much that is interesting besides the story .” — The Yale Literary 
Magazine. 


William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York. 


MARIj'VJNELA.— By B. Perez Oaldos, from the Spanish 
by Clara Bell, in one vol. Paper, 50 cts. Cloth, 90 cts. 


“ Galdos is not a novelist, in th'e sense that now attaches to 
that much-abused word, but a romancer, pure and simple, as 
much so as Hawthorne was, though his intentions are less spir- 
itual, and his methods more material. Marianela is the story 
of a poor, neglected outcast of a girl, an orphan who is tolerated 
by a family of miners, as if she were a dog or a cat ; who is 
fed when the humor takes them and there is any food that can 
be spared, and who is looked down upon by everybody ; and a 
boy Pablo, who is older than she, the son of a well-to-do landed 
proprietor, whose misfortune it is (the boy’s, we mean) that 
he was born blind. His deprivation of sight is almost supplied 
by the eyes of Marianela, who waits upon him, and goes with 
him in his daily wanderings about the mining country of Socartes, 
until he knows the v/hole country by heart and can when need 
is find his way everywhere alone. As beautiful as she is homely, 
he forms an ideal of her looks, based upon her devotion to 
him, colored by his sensitive, spiritual nature, and he loves her, 
or what he imagines she is, and she returns his love — with fear 
and trembling, for ignorant as she is she knows that she is not 
what he believes her to be. They love as two children might, 
naturally, fervently, entirely. The world contains no woman so 
beautiful as she, and he Avill marry her. The idyl of this young 
love is prettily told, with simplicity, freshness, and something 
which, if not poetry, is yet poetic. While the course of true love 
is running smooth with them (for it does sometimes in spite of 
Shakespeare) there appears upon the scene a brother of the chief 
engineer of the Socartes mines who is an oculist, and he, after a 
careful examination of the blind eyes of Pablo, undertakes to per- 
form an operation upon them which he thinks may enable the lad 
to see. About this time there also comes upon the scene a brother 
of Pablo’s father, accompanied by his daughter, who is very beau- 
tiful. The operation is successful, and Pablo is made to see. He 
is enchanted with the loveliness of his cousin, and disenchanl^ed of 
his ideal of Marianela, who dies heart-broken at the fate which 
she knew would be hers if he was permitted to see her as she was. 
This is the story of Marianela, which would have grown into a 
poetic romance under the creative mind and shaping hand of 
Hawthorne, and which, as conceived and managed by Galdos, is 
a realistic one of considerable grace and pathos. It possesses the 
charm of directness and simplicity of narrative, is written with 
great picturesqueness, and is colored throughout with impressions 
of Spanish country life .” — The Mail and Express, New York, 
Thursday, April 12, 1883. 


WilliaiJi S. Gottsbcrger, Publisher, New York. 


ELIAN E.— A Novel, by Mine. Aug-ustus Criiven, from 
the French by Lady Georgiana Fullerton, in one vol. Paper, 
50 cts. Cloth, 90 cts. 

“It is not only pure, but is, we believe, a trustworthy de- 
scription of the dignified French life of which it is a picture. 
‘ Eliane ’ is one of the very best novels we have read for one or 
two seasons past.” — The American Literary Churchman, Balti- 
more. ' 

“ ‘ Eliane’ is interesting not only because it is such a record 
of the best kind of French life and manners as could only have 
bfien written by a person thoroughly at home in the subject, but 
also because of the delicate drawing of character which it con- 
tains.” — London Sat. Review. 

ANTINOUS. — A Romance of Ancient Rome, by Oeorge 
Taylor, from the German by Mary J. Safford, in one vol. 
Paper, 50 cts. Cloth, 90 cts. 

“ ‘ Antinous,’ a Romance of Ancient Rome, from the German 
of George Taylor, by Mary J. Safford, is one of those faithful re- 
productions of ancient manners, customs, and scenery which Ger- 
man authors are so fond of writing, and in which they are so 
wonderfully successful. The story deals with the old age of the 
Emperor Hadrian and with his favorite Antinous. The recital is 
full of power, and is extraordinary in its vividly realistic drawing 
of character. Though a minutely close study of historical detail, 
it is spirited in the telling and of absorbing interest in the plot 
and descriptions. The era and the personages stand out with 
stereoscopic clearness. Nothing could be finer than the portrait 
of the melancholy Hadrian and its beautifully-contrasted fellow 
picture, the sorrowful Antinous. The book is one that appeals to 
every cultivated taste, and overflows with interest of the most re- 
fined description.” — Saturday Evening Gazette, Boston. 

RANTHOKPE.— A Novel, by George Henry Lewes, 

in one vol. Paper, 40 cts. Cloth, 75 cts. 

“There is a good deal of wisdom in it that is not without its 
use.” — Popular Science Monthly. 

“‘Ranthorpe’ is a reprint of a novel written in 1842, by 
George Henry Lewes, the well-known husband of George Eliot. 
It belongs to the psychological class, and is keenly introspective 
throughout. The style is well adapted to the work, displaying the 
versatility of a mind whose natural bent was towards metaphysics 
and the exact sciences.” — Montreal Star. 

William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York. 


A BOOK ABOUT ROSES. — Hoio to Grow and Show 
The 7 n! By S. Reynolds Hole, iu one volume. Paper, 
50 cts. Cloth, 90 cts. 

“There is a June fragrance about this little book that is par- 
ticularly refreshing, now that we are on the edge — very ragged 
edge, to be sure — of summer. They say the flowers know those 
who love them, and come forth only at their bidding. If this be 
so, surely Mr. Hole should be a successful cultivator, as he is cer- 
tainly an entertaining writer on a subject in which he has long 
been a recognized authority. This is the seventh edition of his 
‘ Book About Roses ’ that has been called for, and in responding 
to the demand the happy author contributes some of the latest re- 
sults of his experience, which will be gratefully received by all 
rosarians. Mr. Hole is an enthusiast, and he communicates much 
of that quality to his pages. It is impossible to read long in this 
charming volume without becoming impressed with a profound 
conviction that a rose is the most perfect thing in creation. Aside 
from its value as a guide to cultivators, whether professional or 
amateur, the work possesses a rare fascination, that partly belongs 
to the subject and partly to its happy manner of treatment. There 
is a vein of playful humor in Mr. Hole’s writing that rarely de- 
generates into flippancy, and occasionally a little flight of senti- 
mentalism that accords well with his theme, mingling agreeably 
enough with the purely scientific disquisitions like a wholesome 
perfume, which is happily not a hot-house, but an out-of-door one. 
We cordially commend this book to all who are interested in the 
cultivation of the queen of flowers.” — Chicago Evening Journal. 

“The whole volume teems with encouraging data and statistics ; 
and, while it is intensely practical, it will interest general readers 
by an unfailing vivacity, which supplies garnish and ornament to 
the array of facts, and furnishes ‘ ana ’ in such rich profusion that 
one might do worse than lay by many of Mr. Hole’s good stories 
for future table-talk.” — Satin'day Review. 

“It is the production of a man who boasts of thirty ‘all Eng- 
land’ cups, whose Roses are always looked for anxiously at 
flower-shows, who took the lion’s share in originating the first 
'Rose-Show pur et shnple, whose assistance as judge or amicus 
curiae is always courted at such exhibitions. Such a man ‘ ought 
to have something to say worth hearing to those who love the 
Rose,’ and he has said it.” — Gardeners' Cluvnicle'y 

“A very captivating book, containing a great deal of valuable 
information about the Rose and its culture, given in a style which 
can not fail to please.” — Journal of Horticulture. 

William S. Gottsberger, Publishei'y New York. 


A PRACTICAL METHOD 


FOR 

Learning Spanish 

BY 


A. RAMOS DIAZ DE VILLEGAS 


“ Spanish is not under any circumstances a difficult language 
to learn. It has in its construction and pronunciation an encour- 
aging directness very unlike the grammatical involutions of German 
and the delicate sound-shadings of French. Working in accord- 
ance wth the rules of almost any ‘system,’ a diligent student can 
in a very little while acquire a fair mastery of the language; though 
it is true that some of the ‘ systems ’ are much more difficult than 
others. One of the simplest and best of them all is ‘ A Practical 
Method for Learning Spanish,’ by Senor A. Ramos Dfciz de 
Villegas, just now published by William S. Gottsberger, New York. 
The ‘ method ’ of Senor de Villegas comprehends a collection of 
anecdotes arranged in short lines with an English translation, 
similarly arranged, on the corresponding opposite page ; familiar 
phrases, with idiomatic renderings in English in parallel columns ; 
a vocabulary of words in common use, and a complete list of the 
Spanish irregular verbs. It will be observed that this method 
hardly can be called original ; that it is more or less that of Morales, 
of Velazquez, of Prendergast, and that some of its features are 
found in Ollendorff and in Ahn ; but in simplicity of arrangement 
and directness of purpose it is superior to all of these — Prendergast 
possibly excepted. It certainly is what it is called — a practical 
method for learning Spanish. With a relatively small outlay of 
mental exertion it produces exceptionally good results.” — Philadel- 
phia Twies, yime 1882. 


One Vol., 12MO. — Price 75 Cents. 

Sent by iiia.il, po(!>t-paitl, on receipt of. price. 

WILLIAM S. GOTTSBERGER, 
Publisher^ 

1 1 Murray Street, 


New York. 



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